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Safest $«fe(t (Miti 

A 

LEXICON 

OF 

FREEMASONRY: 



CONTAINING 

A DEFINITION OF ALL ITS COMMUNICABLE TERMS, 

NOTICES OF ITS HISTORY, TRADITIONS, 

AND ANTIQUITIES, 

AND AN ACCOUNT OP ALL THE RITES AND MYSTERIES OF 
THE ANCIENT WORLD. 

BY 

ALBERT G-. MACKEY, M.D. 
* * 

Past General Grand High Priest, and Secretary- General of the Supreme Council 

33d for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United, States. 

Author of the " Text-Book of Masonic Jurisprudence," " Symbolism 

of Freemasonry, 1 ' etc., etc., etc. 



$0ey£o^ai ots 0e'/uis ecrrt, Ovpas 6' ktrlOeaOe /SejSrjAoi? OP$. 

"I will reveal to those to whom it is lawful, 
But close the door against the uninitiated." 

Orphic Hymn. 



FOURTEENTH EDITION, ENLARGED AND IMPROVED BY THE AUTHOR. 

PHILADELPHIA: 

MOSS & CO. 
1872. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by 

ALBERT G. MACKEY, M.D. 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of 

South Carolina. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 

MOSS & BROTHER, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern 
District of Pennsylvania. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by 

MOSS & BROTHER, 

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



Transfer 

MAR 15 1917 




OAXTON PRESS OF 
SHERMAN & CO., PHILADELPHIA} 



TO 



SOVEREIGN GRAND COMMANDER OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE 
33d FOR THE SOUTHERN JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

$lg §zm %ix artb gro%r: 

The second edition of this work was dedicated to a learned and 
venerable brother, the Hon. Thomas Douglas, of Florida, as a slight 
f nbute to his many virtues. In offering a third edition to the 
public, I gladly avail myself of the opportunity to inscribe your 
name upon its pages, as a memorial of our friendship and a token 
of my high appreciation of your character as a learned and in- 
defatigable student of masonic literature. 

I am, a3 ever, yours fraternally, 

ALBERT G. MACKEY, M. D. 



ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FOURTEENTH EDITION. 



rPHE increasing demands of the Masonic public for the Lexicon 
-A. having determined the publishers to issue a fourteenth edi- 
tion, they have submitted the work to the revision of the author, 
who has carefully corrected the errors of former editions, made 
those alterations in the text which have been found necessary to 
conform to the progress of the Order since the first publication, 
and added many new articles. These will, it is hoped, augment 
its claims to that popularity which it has already received in no 
stinted measure from the Craft. 

ALBERT G. MACKEY, M. D. 
Washington, D. C, October 1, 1871. 




PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



Tee title page of this work will sufficiently explain the 
nature of its contents. It is intended to furnish the in- 
quirer, by an easy mode of reference, with a definition of 
all the terms peculiar to our order- — an explanation of the 
symbols with which it abounds— a record of its numerous 
histories and traditions— and an illustration of the various 
points of difficulty which are continually embarrassing the 
progress of the Masonic student. 

The time has passed when a Mason could expect to obtain 
the reputation of a skilful workman by a mere hackneyed 
knowledge of the ritual of our order. Something more 
than this, the Master who desires to perform his duties 
faithfully and well, must bring to the pedestal. The intel- 
ligent brother will expect from him who sits in the place of 
wisdom, not only an ability to explain the ceremonies which 
distinguish our institution, but a capacity to trace them to 
their primitive source, and a knowledge of the history and 
antiquities of the order. 

The numerous instructive works, that have lately issued 
from the press on the science of Freemasonry, render it now 
inexcusable that the Mason should be without some portion 
of that knowledge which is hereafter to be demanded as 
the test of a skilful workman. To give to every brother 
an opportunity of obtaining the necessary information, by 



VI PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 

placing before him, in a compendious form, the matter 
scattered through many volumes, some of which are, in this 
country, rare and generally inaccessible, is the object of 
the Lexicon now presented to the public. 

A work of this kind has, hitherto, I believe, been unknown 
in our language. Glossaries of all the arts and sciences 
abound, but Freemasonry is without its appropriate Dic- 
tionary. How I have supplied this defect is not for me, 
but for my readers, to judge. 

The difficulties, however, of arranging the materials of 
an extensive subject in alphabetical order, for the first time, 
and without any preceding guide, are such, that it has 
been found impossible to avoid the omission, in their proper 
places, of a few articles. These have been added in a Sup- 
plement, to which the inspector is referred for any word 
which he shall fail to find in the body of the work. 

This work, though the labour of years, is still, I know, 
imperfect. Yet, "with all its imperfections on its head," 
I present it to my brethren, because I know that I am not 
asking more than I shall receive, when I crave — for its 
excellencies, their candid consideration — for its errors, their 
fraternal indulgence. 

A. G. Mac key. 

Chaklestox, S. C, March 12, 1845. 



ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



Since the publication of the first edition of this work, 
my studies have continued to be directed to the History, 
Science and Antiquities of Freemasonry. Some of the results 
of a more extended reading, and more enlarged experience 
in this interesting field of literature, are now presented 
in the addition of more than an hundred new articles to 
this edition, and the enlargement of many of those which 
were contained in the first. 

In many instances I have not, from the nature of the 
subjects, permitted myself to be as explicit as some of my 
readers might desire ; for, in the spirit of the motto placed 
upon the title page, while I sought to explain without re- 
serve all that is exoteric in our system, I have not removed 
the veil from that which in forbidden to be made public. 
Yet I trust that scattered hints in these instances, unintel- 
ligible to the profane, will be sufficient to lead the attentive 
Mason into that train of thought and speculation into 
which it was my object to direct him. 

I again offer this work to my brethren, with the same con- 
fiding trust in their indulgence which inspired me on its 
first publication ; to which is now added the obligation of 
gratitude for the kindness with which this contribution to 
the literature of Freemasonry has been received. 

Albert G. Mackey. 

Charleston, S. C. Sept. 10, 1851. 



ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION. 



The publishers of the Lexicon intending to issue a third 
edition, I have carefully revised the work, and added nearly 
a hundred new articles, so as to make it still more worthy 
of the patronage that has been already so liberally extended 
to it. Notwithstanding the fact, that it has been prepared 
for the press in a city distant from the author's residence 
— in consequence of which he has been unable to read the 
proofs with that diligence he would have desired — it is be- 
lieved that the inspector will rarely have occasion to find 
fault with the typographical execution. The Lexicon has 
long since passed successfully through the ordeal of criti- 
cism ; and the author now again submits it, with increased 
confidence, but with unabated gratitude, to the masonic 
public. 

A. G. Mackey, M. D. 

Charleston, S C, Jan. 1, 1855. 



LEXICON OF FREEMASONRY. 



AARON. In Hebrew "nfli*- Tne brother of Moses, and the 
first high priest under the Mosaic dispensation. He is referred 
to in the English ritual of the second degree, and in the Royal 
Arch of the American Rite. He is also represented by the pre- 
siding officer in the 23d degree of the Ancient and Accepted Rite. 

ABACUS. A table used for facilitating arithmetical calcula- 
tions ) or, in architecture, the crowning plate of a column and its 
capital. The Templars, in this country, misled by a slip of Sir 
Walter Scott's pen, have most erroneously given this name to the 
Staff of the Grand Master of the Knights Templars. Macoy, in 
his " Cyclopedia of Freemasonry," has unfortunately sought to 
perpetuate the error by defining the Abacus as " the name of the 
Grand Master's Staff of Office." That instrument is by all com- 
petent authorities called a " baculus." See that word. 

ABBREVIATIONS. Abbreviations are much more in use 
among French than among English or American Masons. An 
alphabetical list, however, of those principally employed, is ap- 
pended for the benefit of such as may be engaged in the exami- 
nation of masonic writings. It must be observed, that a masonic 
abbreviation is generally distinguished by three points in a 
triangular form (thus, .-.) following the letter: various attempts 
have been made to explain the origin of these dots, but if they 
have any allusion at all, we presume it to be to the three lesser 
lights placed in a triangular form around the altar, or, as they 

11 



12 ABB 

were first introduced by our French brethren, they may refer to 
the situation of the three principal officers of the lodge in the 
French rite, where the Master sits in the east and the two 
Wardens in the west. Ragon says that the three points were 
first used on the 12th of August, 1774, by the Grand Orient of 
France in an address to its subordinates. 

A.*. Dep.*. Anno Depositionis. In the year of the deposit. 
The date used by Royal and Select Masters. 

A.*. Inv.\ Anno Invention™. In the year of the discovery. 
The date used in Royal Arch Masonry. 

A.*. L.\ Anno Lucis. In the year of light. The date used in 
Ancient Craft Masonry. 

A.-. L.-. Gk- D.-. G.«. A.-. D.-. L.-. U.-. A la Gloire du 
Grand Architecte de V Univers. To the glory of the Grand 
Architect of the Universe The caption of all French Masonio 
writings. 

A.-. L'0.\ A FOrient, or at the East. The seat of the lodge. 
(French.') 

A.-. M.\ Anno Mundi, or in the year of the world. The date 
used in the Ancient and Accepted or Scotch rite. 

A.\0.\ Anno Ordinis, or in the year of the Order. The 
date used by Knights Templars. 

B.\ A.*. Buisson Ardente, or Burning Bush. (French.) 

B.\ B.\ Burning Bush. These two abbreviations are found 
in the caption of documents of the Ancient and Accepted rite. 

C.\ C.\ Celestial Canopy. Another abbreviation found in the 
same documents. 

E.\ A.'. Entered Apprentice. 

F.\ Frere, or Brother. (French.) 

F.-. C-. Fellow Craft. 

FF.\ Freres, or Brethren. (French.) 

G.-. Grand. 

G.\ L.\ Grand Lodge. 

G.\ M.\ Grand Master. 

I.-. T.-. N.\ 0.-. T.-. G.-. A.-. 0.-. T.-. U.-. In the name of 



ABD— ABI 13 

the Grand Architect of the Universe. Sometimes found at the 
head of English diplomas. 

J.-. W.\ Junior Warden. 

M.\ M.*. Mois Maconnique, or masonic month. (French.) 
March is the first masonic month among French Masons. 

M.\ M.\ Master Mason. 

M.-. W.\ Most Worshipful. 

R.\ A.\ Royal Arch. 

R.\ -j-.\ Rose Croix. The mark attached to their signature, 
by those who are in possession of the degree of Prince of Rose 
Croix. 

R.\ CZ> Respectable loge, or Worshipful lodge. (French.') 

R-.\ W.\ Right Worshipful. 

S.\ P.-. R.\ S.\ Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret. 

S.\ S.\ S.\ Trois fois salut, or thrice greeting. The caption 
of French masoni; writings. 

8." W.\ Senior Warden. 

T. . G.-. A.-. 0.-. T.\ U.-. The Grand Architect of the Uni- 
verse. 

V.\ Venerable, or Worshipful. (French.) 

V.\ L.\ Vraie luniiere, or true light. (French.) 

V.: W.\ Very Worshipful. 

W.\ M.\ Worshipful Master. 

I l « An oblong square is the sign adopted for the word 
"lodge/ 5 

r-Ep. Two squares indicate the plural, or "lodges." 

ABD A. The father of Adoniram. He plays a part in some 
of the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite. 

ABIF. A Hebrew word VDN» signifying "his lather." 
The word ah, or father, was a title of honour " often used/' says 
Adam Clarke, "in Hebrew, to signify a master, inventor, or 
chief operator." In this sense it is used in II Chronicles, ch. 
iv. v. 16, where it is said, " the pots also, and the shovels, and 

2 



i4 ABL— ABR 

the flesh hooks, and all their instruments, did Hurarn his fathei, 
(Huram abif,) make to King Solomon." The Greek, Latin, 
French, and English versions, translate the Hebrew words 
literally as " Hiram his father," but Luther in his German version 
has preserved the spirit of the original by writing " mochte 
Huram Abif," looking upon this latter word as a title of honour 
bestowed by Solomon on his chief builder. See Hiram the 
Builder. 

ABLUTION. A purification by water, whereby, in some of 
the higher degrees of masonry, the candidate is supposed, as in 
the religious systems of antiquity, to be cleansed from the taint 
of an inferior and less pure condition, so as to be prepared foi 
initiation into a higher and purer degree. See Lustration 

ABRAXAS. In the MS. found by Mr. Locke in the Bodleian 
library, the original of which is said to have been in the hand- 
writing of King Henry VI., it is asserted that Masons conceal, 
among other secret arts in their possession, "the facultye of 
Abrae." This is an evident allusion to the word Abraxas, which 
was the name applied by the arch-heretic Basilides to the Su- 
preme Deity, from whom all other deities were emanations, being 
seven in number, with 365 virtues, which were typified by the 
numerical value in Greek of the word, as is shown below. It, 
like the incommunicable name of God among the Jews, was 
supposed to be possessed of magical virtues. Abraxas was also 
the name of small statues, on which were inscribed figures of 
the Egyptian gods, combined with Hebrew and Zoroasteric 
symbols, and characters in a variety of languages. According to 
Beausobre and Lardner, these stones were mostly of Egyptian 
origin. The deity Abraxas is said to be identical with Mithras 
or the sun. The letters of both names, taken according to their 
numerical value in the Greek language, amount exactly to 305, 
thus : 



ABS J5 



a 


= 1 




M 


= 40 


fi 


== 2 




e 


= 5 


P 


= 100 




i 


= 10 


a 


= 1 







= 9 


s 


= 60 




P 


= 100 


a 


= 1 




a 


= 1 


g 


= 200- 


-365 


C 


= 200 



-365 

The word Abraxas is of uncertain origin. Saumaise says that it 
is purely Egyptian, and should properly be pronounced Abrasax. 
Beausobre, in his History of Manicheism, enters into a long 
etymological disquisition to prove that it is derived from two 
Greek words Afipoq Saco, and signifies " the magnificent Saviour, 
he who heals and preserves." Afipos is also an epithet of the 
sun, and hence we again come to the conclusion that Mithras and 
Abraxas are identical. 

It was therefore typical of the annual course of the eartb 
around the sun, constituting the solar year, and was a part of the 
sun worship of the first seceders from pure Freemasonry. 

It is a singular coincidence, that Belenus, the deity of the 
Gauls, and who is supposed from his form and ornaments to be 
identical with Mithras, was also equivalent, in the numerical 
value of the letters of his name in Greek, to S 65, thus : — 



fi 


"n 


X 


e 


V 





c 


2, 


8, 


30, 


5, 


50, 


70, 


200—365. 



ABSENCE. It is contrary to the principles of Freemasonry, 
to inflict pecuniary fines for non-attendance. The obligations 
and duties inculcated by the order are of such a nature, as to 
compel the attendance of its members who are without reasonable 
excuse. It would, therefore, be a descent in the grade of punish- 
ment, and manifestly tend to weaken the solemn nature of those 
obligations which every member and officer contracts, were the 
lodge to attempt the imposition of any trifling pecuniary penalty 
for inexcusable absence. The regular attendance of each brother, 
at his lodge, is strictly insisted on in the ancient charges, which 
prescribed as a rule, " that no Master or Fellow could be absent 
from the lodge, especially when warned to appear at it, without 



16 ACA 

incurring a severe censure, until it appeared to the Master and 
Wardens that pure necessity hindered him." This regulation 
has been perpetuated by the modern constitutions. 

ACACIA. The ancient name of a plant, most of whose 
species are evergreen, and six of which, at least, are natives of 
the East. The acacia of Freemasonry is the Mimosa Nilotica 
of Linnaeus, a shrub which grew in great abundance in the 
neighbourhood of Jerusalem. According to the Jewish law, no 
interments were permitted within the walls of the city, and as 
it was unlawful for the cohens or priests to pass over a grave, it 
became necessary to place marks wherever a dead body had been 
interred, to enable them to avoid it. For this purpose, the 
acacia was used. Much of the masonic history of the acacia is 
incommunicable, but it may be permitted to say, that its ever- 
green nature, united to other circumstances, is intended to re- 
mind us of the immortality of the soul. The Greek work axaxca 
signifies " innocence or freedom from sin f and Hutchinson, who 
fancifully supposes the Master's to be a Christian degree, ex 
emplifying the rise of the Christian dispensation after the destruc- 
tion of the Mosaic, alluding to this Greek meaning of acacia, 
says that it implies "that the sins and corruptions of the old 
law, and devotees of the Jewish altar, had hid religion from 
those who sought her, and she was only to be found where inno- 
cence survived, and under the banner of the divine lamb." (Spirit 
of Masonry, p. 99.) Without adopting this heresy, we shall 
find abundant reason for admiring the propriety of the Greek 
meaning, as applied to him whose history is, in our order, most 
closely connected with the acacia. Coincident with the acacia, 
were the palm of the Egyptian mysteries, the myrtle of the 
Grecian, and the mistletoe of the Druids. 

ACACIAN. A term derived from ataxia, "innocence," and 
signifying a Mason, who, by living in strict obedience to the 
obligations and precepts of the fraternity, is free from sin. First 
used, I believe, by Hutchinson. 



ACC— ACK 17 

ACCEPTED. A title which, as applied to Freemasons, is 
equivalent to the term " initiated." It alludes to the acceptance 
into their society, by operative Masons, of those who were not 
operatives. An Accepted Mason is one who has been adopted 
into the order, and received the freedom of the society, as is the 
case with other companies in Europe. This is evident from the 
regulations made on St. John's day, 1663, under the Grand 
Mastership of the Earl of St. Albans, where the word is re- 
peatedly used in this sense. Thus : " No person hereafter, who 
shall be accepted a Freemason, shall be admitted into any lodge 
or assembly, until he has brought a certificate of the time and 
place of his acceptation, from the lodge that accepted him, untc 
the Master of that limit or division where such lodge is kept." 
And again : " No person shall be made or accepted a Freemason, 
unless/' etc. 

ACCLAMATION. A certain form of words used in con- 
nexion with the battery. In the Scotch rite it is huzza; in 
French, vivat ; and, in the rite of Misraim, hallelujah In the 
York, it is so mote it be. 

ACHAD. Hebrew "1HK- O ne of tne masonic names of G-od, 
signifying the one. It is derived from the passage in Deutero- 
nomy vi. 4 : " Hear, Israel : the Lord our God is (a chad) one." 

ACHISHAR. He is mentioned in 1 Kings rv. 6., under the 
name of Ahishar, as being "over the household." He was the 
steward, or, as Adam Clarke says, the chamberlain of Solomon. 
The masonic spelling of the name, Achishar, is more consonant 
with the Hebrew than that adopted by the English translators of 
the Bible. He is one of the persons referred to in the degree 
of Select Master. 

ACKNOWLEDGED. Candidates who are invested with the 
Most Excellent Master's degree, are said to be "received and 
acknowledged" as such ; because, as the possession of that de- 
gree supposes a more intimate knowledge of the science of ma- 

2* 



18 ACT— ADO 

sonry, the word achnoioledged is used to intimate that such a 
character is conceded to its possessors. The word received 
conveys an allusion to the original reception of the first M. E. 
Masters by King Solomon. 

ACTING GRAND MASTER. By the constitutions of Eng- 
land, whenever a prince of the blood royal accepts the office of 
Grand Master, he is empowered to appoint a peer of the realm as 
Acting Grand Master. 

ADMISSION. The requisites for admission into our order 
are somewhat peculiar. The candidate must be free born, under 
no bondage, vf at least twenty-one years of age, in the possession 
of sound senses, free from any physical defect or dismember- 
ment, and of irreproachable manners, or, as it is technically 
termed, "under the tongue of good report." No atheist, eunuch, 
or woman can be admitted. The requisites as to age, sex, and 
soundness of body, have reference to the operative character 
of the institution. We can only expect able workmen in able 
bodied men. The mental and religious qualifications refer to the 
duties and obligations which a Freemason contracts. An idiot 
could not understand them, and an atheist would not respect them. 
Even those who possess all these necessary qualifications can be 
admitted only under certain regulations. Not more than five 
candidates can be received at one time except in urgent cases, 
when a dispensation may be granted by the Grand Master, and 
no applicant can receive more than two degrees on the same day. 
To the last rule there can be no exception. 

ADONIRAM. The principal receiver of King Solomon's tri- 
bute, and the chief overseer of the 30,000 brethren who were 
sent to cut the timber for the temple in the forests of Lebanon. 
He is introduced in the degrees of Secret and Perfect Master, 
and Intendant of the Building, in the Scotch rite, and in the 
degree of Royal Master. He is said to have married a sister of 
Hiram the Builder. 



ADO 19 

.ADONIRAMITE MASONRY. Magonnerie AdonMramite. 
This rite was established in France at the close of the eighteenth 
century. It consists of twelve degrees, namely : 1, Entered 
Apprentice; 2, Fellow Craft; 3 ; Master Mason; 4, Perfect Mas- 
ter; 5, Elect of Nine; 6, Elect of Perignan; 7, Minor Architect, 
or Scotch Apprentice; 8, Grand Architect, or Scotch Fellow 
Craft; 9, Scotch Master; 10, Knight of the East; 11, Knight 
of Rose Croix; 12, Prussian Knight. 

Of these degrees, the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th are peculiar to 
Adoniramite Masonry; the others do not much differ from the 
corresponding degrees in the ancient Scotch rite. The title of 
the order is derived from Adoniram who took charge of the 
works after the loss of the principal conductor, and to the lime 
of whose superintendence the legends of the most important de- 
grees refer. 

ADONIS, MYSTERIES OF. The mysteries which, in 
Egypt, the cradle of all the Pagan rites, had been consecrated to 
Osiris, in passing over into Phenicia were dedicated to Adonis.* 
According to the legend, Venus, having beheld Adonis when a 
child, became so enamoured of him, that she seized him, and 
concealing him from sight, exhibited him to Proserpine alone. 
But she, becoming equally enamoured of his beauty, sought to 
obtain possession of him. The dispute between the goddesses 
was reconciled by Jupiter, who decided that Adonis should 
dwell six months of the year with Venus, and the remaining six 
months with Proserpine. This decree was executed; but Adonis, 
who was a great hunter, was afterward killed on Mount Libanus 
by a wild boar, who thrust his tusk into his groin. Venus, 
inconsolable for his death, inundated his body with her tears, 



* Adonis, in the Phenician language, like Adon in the cognate Hebrew, 
Bignifies lord or master. The idol Tainmuz, mentioned in the 8th chapter of 
Ezekiel, was considered by Jerome, and after him by Parkhurst, as identical 
with Adams. 

f By superior hemisphere, he means the Northern, and by inferior the 
Southern. 



20 AD0 

until Proserpine, in pity, restored him to life. Macrobius ex- 
plains the allegory thus : "Philosophers have given the name of 
Venus to the superior hemisphere of which we occupy a part, 
and that of Proserpine to the inferior.! Hence Venus, among 
the' Assyrians and Phenicians, is in tears, when the Sun, m his 
annual course through the twelve signs of the Zodiac, passes over 
to our antipodes. For of these twelve signs, six are said to be 
superior, and six inferior. When the Sun is in the inferior signs, 
and the days are consequently short, the goddess is supposed to 
weep the temporary death and privation of the Sun, detained by 
Proserpine, whom we regard as the divinity of the southern or 
antipodal regions. And Adonis is said to be restored to Venus, 
when the Sun, having traversed the six inferior signs, enters those 
of our hemisphere, bringing with it an increase of light and 
lengthened days. The boar which is supposed to have killed 
Adonis is an emblem of winter; for this animal, covered with 
rou-h bristles, delights in cold, wet, and miry situations, and his 
favourite food is the acorn, a fruit peculiar to winter. The Sun is 
R aid, too, to be wounded by the winter, since, at that season, we 
lose its light and heat; effects which death produces upon ani- 
mated beings. Venus is represented on Mount Libanus in an 
attitude of grief; her head, bent and covered with a veil, is 
sustained by her left hand near her breast, and her countenance 
is bathed with tears. This figure represents the earth in winter, 
when, veiled in clouds and deprived of the Sun, its powers have 
become torpid. The fountains, like the eyes of Venus, are over- 
flowing and the fields, deprived of their floral ornaments, present 
a joyless appearance. But when the Sun, emerging from the 
southern regions of the earth, passes the vernal equinox, Venus 
is once more rejoiced, the fields are again embellished with 
flowers, the grass springs up in the meadows, and the trees re- 
cover their foliage." 

The cultivation of the mysteries of Adonis was propagated 
from Phenicia into Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Sicily. 
The celebration began in Phenicia at the period when the waters 



ADO 21 

of the river Adonis, which descend from Mount Libanus, are 
tinged with a reddish hne derived from the colour of the soil pe- 
culiar to the mountain. The Phenician women believed that the 
wound of Adonis was annually renewed, and that it was his 
blood which coloured the stream. The phenomenon was the signal 
for the commencement of the rites. Every one assumed the 
appearance of profound grief. At Alexandria, the queen bore 
the statue of Adonis,, accompanied by the noblest females of the 
city, carrying baskets of- cakes, bottles of perfumes, flowers, 
branches of trees, and pomegranates. The procession was closed 
by women bearing two beds splendidly embroidered in gold and 
silver, one for Venus and the other for Adonis. At Athens they 
placed in various parts of the city the figure of a dead youth. 
These figures were afterward taken away by women clad in the 
habiliments of mourning, who celebrated their funeral rites. 
On the second day of the mysteries, sorrow was converted into 
joy, and they commemorated the resurrection of Adonis. The 
mysteries of Adonis were, at one time, introduced into Juclea, 
where the Hebrew women were accustomed to hold an annual 
lamentation for him, under the name of Tammuz, of which Eze- 
kiel speaks, viii. 14 : " Behold there sat women weeping for 
Tammuz." According to Calmet and Faber, Adonis was also 
identical with Baal-peor, the idol of the Moabites, mentioned in 
the twenty-fifth chapter of Numbers. 

Our knowledge of the ceremonies which accompanied the 
Adonisian initiation is but scanty. " The objects represented/' 
says Duncan, "were the grief of Yenus and the death and re- 
surrection of Adonis. An entire week was consumed in these 
ceremonies: all the houses were covered with crape or black 
linen : funeral processions traversed the streets, while the devotees 
scourged themselves, uttering frantic cries. The orgies were then 
commenced, in which the mystery of the death of xVdonis was 
depicted. During the next twenty-four hours, all the people 
fasted, at the expiration of which time the priests announced the 



22 ADO 

resurrection of the god. Joy now prevailed, and music and 
dancing concluded the festivals."* 

Julius Ferrnicius, a Christian writer of the fourth century, 
thus describes a portion of the Adonisian ceremonies :f 

"•On a certain night an image is laid out upon a bed, and 
bewailed in mournful strains. At length, when they are satiated 
with their fictitious lamentation, light is introduced, and the 
priest, having first anointed the mouths of all those who had been 
weeping, whispers with a gentle murmur: Trust ye, initiates, for 
the god being saved, out of pains salvation shall arise to us." 

Hence the ceremonies were a representation of the death and 
resurrection of Adonis in the person of the aspirant. 

ADOPTIVE MASONRY. By the immutable laws of our 
institution, no woman can be made a Freemason. It follows, 
therefore, as a matter of course, that lodges which admit females 
to membership, can never legally exist in the order. Our French 
brethren, however, with that gallantry for which the nation is 
proverbial, have sought, by the establishment of societies, which 
have, indeed, but a faint resemblance to the peculiar organiza- 
tion of Freemasonry, to enable females to unite themselves in 
some sort with the masonic institution, and thus to enlist the 
sympathies and friendship of the gentler sex in behalf of the 
fraternity. 

To the organizations thus established for the initiation of fe- 
males, the French have given the name of "Adoptive Masonry," 
magonnerie a" adoption, and the lodges are called loges d 'adoption f 
or "adoptive lodges," because, as will hereafter be seen, every 
lodge of females was finally obliged to be adopted by, and under 
the guardianship of some regular masonic lodge. 

* Religions of Profano Antiquity; their Mythology, Fables, Hieroglyphics, 
and Doctrines. Founded on Astronomical Principles. By Jonathan DuncaD, 
15. A. p. 330. 

f In an oration inscribed to the Emperors Constans and Constantius. The 
classical reader may compare the original language of Fermicius, which I hero 
insert : Nocte quadam simulacrum in lectica supinum ponitur, et per numero* 



ADO 23 

In the beginning of the eighteenth century, several secret 
associations sprang up in France, which, in their external cha- 
racters and mysterious rites, attempted an imitation of Free- 
masonry, differing, however, from that institution, of which they 
were, perhaps, the rivals for public favour, by their admission of 
female members. The ladies very naturally extolled the gallantry 
of these mushroom institutions, and inveighed with increased 
hostility against the exclusiveness of masonry. The Royal Art 
w&s becoming unpopular, and the fraternity believed themselves 
compelled to use strategy, and to wield in their own defence the 
weapons of their opponents. 

At length, the Grand Orient of France, finding that these 
mystic societies were becoming so popular and so numerous as to 
endanger the permanency of the masonic institution, a new rite 
was established in 1774, called the "Rite of Adoption," which 
was placed under the control of the Grand Orient. Rules and 
regulations were thenceforth provided for the government of these 
lodges of adoption, one of which was that no men should be per- 
mitted to attend them except regular Freemasons, and that each 
lodge should be placed under the charge, and held under the 
sanction and warrant of some regularly constituted masonic lodge, 
whose Master, or, in his absence, his deputy, should be the pre- 
siding officer, assisted by a female President or Mistress. Under 
these regulations a Lodge of Adoption was opened in Paris in 
1775, under the patronage of the lodge of St. Anthony, and in 
which the Duchess of Bourbon presided, and was installed as 
Grand Mistress of the Adoptive rite. 

The rite of Adoption consists of four degrees, as follow : 

1. Apprentice. 

2. Companion. 

digeatis fletibus plangitur. Deinde cum se ficta lamentatione satiaverint, 
lumen infertur. Tunc a sacerclote omnium qui flebant, fauces unguntur quibus 
perunotis, sacerdos lento murmure susurrat : 

Pappsire jivarai rov deov ataoxjitvov 

Fjitcli yap r\piv ck -ovmv coirrjpta. 



24 ADO 

3. Mistress. 

4. Perfect Mistress. 

The first, or Apprentices' degree, is simply introductory in its 
character, and is intended to prepare the candidate by its initia- 
tory ceremony for the emblematic lessons which are contained in 
the remaining degrees. 

In the second degree, or Companion, the scene of the temp- 
tation in Eden is emblematically represented, by the ceremonial 
of initiation, and the candidate is reminded in the course of the 
lecture, (for there is a lecture or catechism to each degiee,) of all 
the unhappy results of the first sin of woman, until they termi- 
nated in the universal deluge. 

The building of the Tower of Babel, and the consequent dis- 
persion of the human race, constitute the legend of the third 
degree, or that of Mistress. Jacob's ladder is also introduced 
into the ceremonies of this degree, and the candidate is informed 
that it symbolically denotes the various virtues which a Mason 
should possess, while the Tower of Babel is an emblem of a badly 
regulated lodge, in which disorder and confusion are substituted 
for the concord and obedience which should always exist in such 
a place. 

In the fourth degree, or that of Perfect Mistress, the officers 
represent Moses, Aaron, their wives, and the sons of Aaron, and 
the ceremonies and instructions refer to the passage of the Israel- 
ites through the wilderness, as a symbol of the passage of man 
and woman through this, to another and a better world. 

It will be seen, from this brief sketch, that the rite of Adop- 
tion professes, in some measure, to imitate the symbolic character 
and design of true Freemasonry. It cannot be denied that the 
idea has been very ingeniously and successfully carried out. 

The officers of a lodge of Adoption consist of a Grand Master 
and Grand Mistress, an Orator, an Inspector and an Inspectress, 
a Depositor and a Depositrix, a Conductor and a Conductress.* 



* The Inspectress, assisted by the Inspector, acts as Senior Warden, and the 
Depositrix, assisted by the Depositor, as Junior Warden. The Conductress and 
he Conductor are the Deacons. 



ADO 26 

They wear a blue sash or collar, with a gold trowel suspended 
thereto. The Grand Master uses a mallet, with which he governs 
the lodge, and the same implement is placed in the hands of the 
Grand Mistress, the Inspector and Inspectress, and Depositor 
and Depositrix. Every member wears a plain white apron and 
white gloves. 

The brethren, in addition to the insignia of their rank, wear 
swords and a gold ladder with five rounds, which is the proper 
jewel of Adoptive masonry. 

The business of the lodge is conducted by the sisterhood, the 
brethren only acting as their assistants. 

The Grand Mistress, however, has very little to say or do, she 
being only an honorary companion to the Grand Master, which 
mark of distinction is conferred on her as a token of respect for 
her character and virtues. 

The lodge-room is elegantly and tastefully decorated with 
emblems, which, of course, vary in each degree. In the degree 
of Apprentice, for instance, the room is separated by curtains 
into four apartments or divisions, representing the four quarters 
of the world, Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. The division 
at the entrance of the lodge represents Europe, in the middle on 
the right is Africa, on the left America, and at the extreme east 
is Asia, where are erected two splendid thrones, decorated with 
gold fringe, for the Grand Master and Grand Mistress. Before 
them is placed an altar, and on both sides, to the right and left, 
are eight statues, representing Wisdom, Prudence, Strength, 
Temperance, Honour, Charity, Justice, and Truth. The mem- 
bers sit on each side in straight lines, the sisters in front, and the 
brothers behind them, the latter having swords in their hands. 
There cannot, in fact, be a more beautiful and attractive sight, 
than a lodge of Adoptive Masons properly organized and well 
attended. 

Looking to the mixed sexual character of these lodges, it is 
not surprising that every thing is followed by a banquet, and on 
many occasions by a ball. These, says Clavel, are inseparable 



26 ADO 

from a lodge of Adoption, and are, in fact, the real design of its 
organization, the initiatory ceremonies being but a pretext. 

In the banquets of the regular lodges of the French rite, the 
members always use a symbolic language, by which they desig- 
nate the various implements and articles of food and drink upon 
ihe table. In imitation of this custom, the ladies, in the ban- 
quets of the Adoptive lodges, have also established a symbolic 
language, to be used only at the table. Thus the lodge-room is 
called "Eden;" the doors "barriers;" the minutes "a ladder;" 
a glass is called "a lamp;" water is styled "white oil," and wine 
"red oil." To fill your glass is "trim your lamp," with many 
other equally eccentric expressions. 

Such is the organization of French Female Masonry, as it was 
established and recognized by the masonic authorities of that 
kingdom. It is still practised as a peculiar rite, although its re- 
semblance to true Freemasonry is only in name. Under these 
regulations, the lodge "La Candeur" was opened in Paris on the 
11th of March, 1785, a Marquis being in the chair, and a 
Duchess acting as Deputy or Grand Mistress. In the same year 
the Duchess of Bourbon was installed with great pomp as Grand 
Mistress. The revolution checked their progress, but they were 
revived in 1805, when the Empress Josephine presided over the 
"Lodge Imperiale d' Adoption des Francs Chevaliers," at Stras- 
burg. The adoptive lodges were at first rapidly diffused through- 
out all the countries of Europe, except the British Empire, 
where they were rejected with contempt, but they soon declined, 
and are at present confined to the place of their origin. 

Recently an "American Adoptive Rite," called the " Order of 
the Eastern Star," invented by Bro. Robt. Morris, has become 
somewhat popular in this country. It consists of five degrees, 
viz. : 1. Jephtha's daughter, or the daughter's degree. 2. Ruth, 
or the widow's degree. 3. Esther, or the wife's degree. 4. 
Martha, or the sister's degree. 5. Electa, or the Benevolent. 
It is entirely different from European or French Adoptive Ma- 
sonry. 



ADV— AFR 27 

ADVANCED. When a candidate is invested with the Mark 
Master's degree, he is said to be "advanced." The term is very 
appropriately used to designate that the Master Mason is now 
promoted one step beyond the degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry 
on the way to the Royal Arch. 

AFFILIATED. A mason who is a member of a lodge is 
said to be "an affiliated niason," in contra-distinction to a de- 
mitted or non-affiliated one, who is not a member of any lodge. 



AFFILIATION. The act by which a lodge receives a Mason 
among its members. A profane is initiated^ but a Mason is 
affiliated. The general rule is, that a candidate mast be initiated 
in the lodge nearest to his residence, but after a Mason has been 
made, he may unite himself with any lodge that he chooses, and 
which is willing to receive him 

AFRICAN ARCHITECTS. In the year 1767, one Bau- 
cherren instituted in Prussia, with the concurrence of Frederick 
IL, a society which he called " the Order of African Architects." 
The object of the institution was historical research, but it con- 
tained a ritual which partook of Masonry, Christianity, Alchemy, 
and Chivalry. It was divided into two temples, and was composed 
of eleven degrees. In the first temple were the degrees of — 
1, Apprentice ; 2, Fellow Craft ; and 3, Master. In the second 
temple were the degrees of — 4, Apprentice of Egyptian Secrets ; 
5, Initiate in the Egyptian Secrets; 6, Cosmopolitan brother; 
7, Christian philosopher; 8, Master of Egyptian Secrets; 9, Esquire; 
10, Soldier; and 11, Knight. The society constructed a vast 
building intended as a Grand Chapter of the order, and which 
contained an excellent library, a museum of natural history, and 
a chemical laboratory. For a long time the African Architects 
decreed annually a gold medal worth fifty ducats to the author of 
the best memoir on the history of masonry. 

Ragon, who seldom speaks well of any other rite than his own, 
has, however, in his "Orthodoxie Maconnique," paid the follow- 
ing tribute to the African Architects : — 



28 AGE— AHI 

" Their intercourse was modest and dignified. They did not 
esteem decorations, aprons, collars, jewels, &c, but were rather 
fond of luxury, and delighted in sententious apothegms whose 
meaning was sublime but concealed. In their assemblies they 
read essays and communicated the results of their researches. 
At their simple and decorous banquets instructive and scientific 
discourses were delivered. While their initiations were gratui- 
tous, they gave liberal assistance to such zealous brethren as 
were in needy circumstances. They published in Germany many 
important documents on the subject of Freemasonry." 

AGE. In the French, Scotch, and some other rites, each de- 
gree has an emblematic age; that of the E.\ A.-, is three years, 
because, in the system of mystical numbers, three is the number 
of generation, which comprises three terms, the agent, the re- 
cipient, and the product. Five is the age of the F. . C.-., five 
being emblematic of active life, characterized by the five senses. 
x\nd seven is the age of the M.\ M.\, it being the perfect num- 
ber, in allusion to the seven primitive planets which completed 
the astronomic system. 

AHIMAN KEZON. This is the name of the Book of Con- 
stitutions, which was used by the Ancient Division of Free- 
masons, which separated in 1739 from the Grand Lodge of Eng- 
land. The "True Ahiman Bezon" was compiled in 1772 for 
the government of the Ancient Masons, by Laurence Dermott, 
at that time Deputy Grand Master of that body. The title is 
derived from three Hebrew words, ahim, brothers, manah y to 
choose or appoint,* and ratzon, the will or law, so that it literally 
signifies "the law of chosen brothers." The Book of Consti 
tutions of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina, and that of 

* Manah means to choose, appoint, or distribute into a peculiar Mass out of 
a generality, and is hence really equivalent to "accept"— Dalcho's signification, 
to prepare, is incorroct. 



AHO— ALP 29 

Pennsylvania, are also called xAhiuian Rezon. See Book of Con- 
stitutions. 

AHOLIAB. A skilful architect, appointed with Bezaleel to 
construct the tabernacle. Moses, Aholiab, and Bezaleel, the 
builders of the tabernacle, are in the Royal Arch degree appro- 
priately placed in juxtaposition with Shem, Ham, and Japheth, 
who constructed the ark of safety, and with Joshua, Zerubbabel, 
and Haggai, who built the second temple. 

ALARM. The signal of the approach of a person demanding 
admission to the lodge is thus called in masonic language. 

ALL-SEEING EYE. An emblem of the Master's degree. 
It reminds us of that superintending Providence who knows the 
most secret thoughts of our hearts, and rewards us according t<j 
our merits.* 

This emblem was also found in the ancient mysteries,"}" and 
was there, as in masonry, preserved as a testimony of the unity 
of that omniscient and omnipresent Deity, the teaching of whose 
existence, in contradistinction to the popular mythology, was the 
aim and object of all these institutions. 

ALPHA AMD OMEGA. The first and last letters of the 
Greek alphabet, equivalent therefore to the beginning and end- 
ing of any thing, or to the whole of it in its completeness. The 
Jews used the first and last letters of their alphabet, Alejrfi and 
Tau, to express proverbially the whole compass of things ; as when 
they said that "Adam transgressed the whole law, from Aleph to 
Tau. "| St. John substituted the Greek for the Hebrew letters, as 
benm* more familiar to his readers. 



* Deus tutus visits, — God is nil eyes, says Pliny. 

f Among the Egyptians the Eye was the symbol of Osiris, and signified 
Providence. Hence they consecrated, in their temples, eyes made of precicu* 
materials. 

t A Jam Clarkej Commentary on Rev. i.8. 



30 



ALP— ALT 



ALPHABET OF ANGELS. The Jews speak of a celestial 
and mystical alphabet, which they say was communicated by the 
angels to the patriarchs. Kircher gives a copy of it in his (Edi- 
pus Egyptiacus, torn. ii. p. 105. This alphabet is several times 
alluded to in the ritual of the Scotch rite. 

ALTAR. The place where the sacred offerings were presented 
to God. After the erection of the Tabernacle, altars were of 
two kinds, altars of sacrifice and altars of incense. The altar of 
masonry may be considered as the representative of boih these 
forms. From thence the grateful incense of Brotherly Love, 
Relief, and Truth, is ever rising to the Great I AM ; while on it, 
the unruly passu ns and the worldly appetites of the brethren 
are laid, as a fitting sacrifice to the genius of our order. 

The proper form of a masonic altar is that of a cube, about 
three feet high, with four horns, one at each corner, and having 
spread open upon it the Holy Bible, square, and compasses, while 
around it are placed in a triangular form and proper position the 
three lesser lights. 




This diagram will ex- 
hibit the correct position 
in which the lights should 
be placed around the al- 
tar, the stars designating 
the places of the lights in 
the East, West, and South, 
and the black dot the va- 
cancy in the North where 
there is no light. 



Placing the lights all in the east at the head of the altar is a 
common error, but a great one, as it does not meet the require- 
ments of the ritual, which not only places them in a different 
position, but says that they surround the altar. 



AME 31 

AMERICAN MYSTERIES. Among the many evidences of 
a former state of civilization among the aborigines of this country 
which seem to prove their origin from the races that inhabit the 
Eastern hemisphere, not the least remarkable is the existence of 
fraternities bound by mystic ties, and claiming, like the Free- 
masons, to possess an esoteric knowledge which they carefully 
conceal from all but the initiated. De Witt Clinton, once the 
General Grand High Priest of the United States, relates, on the 
authority of a respectable native minister, who had received the 
signs, the existence of such a society among the Iroquois. The 
number of the members was limited to fifteen, of whom six were 
to be ot the Seneca tribe, five of the Oneidas, two of the Cayagas, 
and two of the St. Regis. They claim that their institution has 
existed from the era of the creation. The times of their meeting 
they keep secret, and throw much mystery over all their proceed 
ings. 

The mysteries of the Mexican tribes were characterized by 
cruelty and bloodshed. In the celebration of these shocking 
rites, the aspirant was previously subjected to long and painful 
fastings, and compelled to undergo, in even a heightened form, 
all the terrors and sufferings which distinguished the mysteries 
of the Eastern continent. He was scourged with cords, wound- 
ed with knives, and cauterized with red-hot cinders. So cruel 
were these probations, that many perished under their infliction; 
and yet he who recoiled from the trial, or suffered an involuntary 
groan to escape his lips, was dismissed with contempt, and con- 
sidered thenceforth as unworthy to mingle in the society of his 
equals. It was in the temple of Yitzliputzli that the Mexican 
mysteries were celebrated on the grandest scale. The candidate, 
being first anointed with a narcotic unguent, descended into the 
gloomy caverns of initiation, which were excavated beneath the 
temple. The ceremonies were intended to represent the wander- 
ings of the god, and the caverns through which the aspirant was 
to pass were called the path of the dead. 

He is conducted through these caverns amid shrieks of anguish 



32 AME 

and groans of despair, which seem to rise from every side, phan- 
toms of death flit past his eyes, and while trembling for his safety, 
he reaches the body of a slain victim whose heart has been 
ripped from his breast, and whose limbs are still quivering with 
departing life; suddenly he finds himself in a spacious vault, 
through which an artificial sun is darting his rays, and in the 
roof of which is an orifice through which the body of the sacri- 
ficed victim had been precipitated. He is now immediately under 
the high altar. Finally, after encountering many other horrors, 
he reaches a narrow fissure which terminates the suit of subter- 
ranean apartments, and being protruded through it by his guide. 
he finds himself in open air, and in the midst of a vast multi- 
tude, who receive him with shouts as a person regenerated 01 
born again.* 

This was the first degree of the Mexican mysteries. There 
was a higher grade attainable only by the priests, in which the 
instruction was of a symbolic character, and referred to the deluge 
and the subsequent settlement of their ancestors on the lake of 
Mexico. The details of this legend bear a remarkable similarity 
to the scriptural account of the wanderings and final settlement 
of the Israelites. The tribe was led by the god Vitzliputzli, who 
was seated in a square ark, and held in his hand a rod formed 
like a serpent. The ark was called the throne of God, and its 
four corners were surmounted by serpents' heads. During their 
marches and encampments, Vitzliputzli revealed to them a mode 
of worship and a code of laws to govern them after they had taken 
possession of the promised land. In the midst of their encamp- 
ment, they erected a tabernacle with an altar, on which was 
placed the sacred ark. After a tedious expedition, they finally 
arrived at an island in the middle of a lake, where they built the 
city of Mexico, and furnished it with a pyramidal temple. 

The mysteries of the Peruvians were more simple and humane, 

* It may as well be remarked in this place, that this regeneration, or raising 
from death to a second life, constituted the great end of all the pagan rites. 



AME— ANC 33 

and consisted principally of a lustration, performed annually on 
the first day of the September moon. 

AMERICAN RITE. The rite practised in the United 
States, and which is a modification or rather development of 
the York Rite. It consists of nine degrees: — 1. Entered Ap- 
prentice. 2. Fellow Craft. 3. Master Mason. 4. Mark Mas- 
ter. 5. Past Master. 6. Most Excellent Master. 7. Royal 
Arch. 8. Royal Master. 9. Select Master. The degrees of 
Chivalry, consisting of the Knight of the Red Cross, Knight 
Templar, and Knight of Malta, are appendages to the Rite ; and 
in some councils another degree, that of Super Excellent Mas- 
ter, is given. The system of nine degrees, however, which con- 
stitutes the real American Rite, I am disposed to attribute to 
Thomas Smith Webb, who organized it in the latter part of the 
last century. 

AMPLE FORM. When the Grand Lodge is opened by the 
Grand Master in person, it is said to be opened in " ample form;" 
when by the Deputy Grand Master, it is in "due form;" and 
when by any other officer, it is said to be simply "in form." 

ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE. See Scotch Rite. 

ANCIENT CRAFT MASONRY. The degrees of Entered 
Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason, are thus called, 
Decause they were the only degrees which were anciently prac- 
tised by the craft- 

ANCIENT MASONS. See Modern Masons. 

ANCIENT REFORMED RITE. A rite differing very 
slightly from the French rite. It is practised in Belgium and 
Holland. 



34 AND— ANT 

ANDERSON. James Anderson, D.D., trie compiler of the 
English Book of Constitutions, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, 
on the 5th of August, 1684, but, for many years of his life, was 
a resident of England and the minister of the Scotch Presbyterian 
church in Swallow street, Picadilly, London. Besides the Book 
of Constitutions, to which he is principally indebted for his rep- 
utation, he was also the author of an extensive and singular work 
entitled " Royal Genealogies." Chambers, in his " Scottish Bi- 
ography," describes him as " a learned but imprudent man, who 
lost a considerable part of his property in deep dabbling in the 
South Sea Scheme." He died in the year 1746, aged 62 years. 

ANDROGYNOUS MASONRY. Degrees imitative of ma- 
sonry, which have been instituted for the initiation of males and 
females, so called from two Greek words signifying man and wo- 
man. They were first established in France in the year 1730, 
under the name of "lodges of adoption." In America there are 
several androgynous degrees, such as the Good Samaritan, the 
Heroine of Jericho, and the Mason's Daughter. See Adoptive 
Masonry. 

ANGLE. See Right Angle. 

ANNIVERSARY. The two anniversaries of Symbolic Ma- 
sonry are, the festivals of St. John the Baptist, and St. John the 
Evangelist, 24th of June and 27th of December. See in this 
work the title Dedication. The anniversary of the Princes of 
Rose Croix is Easter day. 

ANNO LUCIS. In the Tear of Light. Used in masonic 
dates, and usually abbreviated A.-. L.-. See Year of Light. 

ANTIQUITY OF MASONRY. Freemasonry is in its prin- 
ciples undoubtedly coeval with the creation, but in its organiza- 
tion as a peculiar institution, such as it now exists, we dare not 
trace it further back than to the building of King Solomon's 
temple. It was, however, in its origin closely connected with 



ANT 35 

the Ancient Mysteries, and the curious inquirer will find some 
gratification in tracing this connection. 

When man was first created, he had, of course, a perfect know- 
ledge of the true name and nature of the Being who created 
him. But when, try his own folly, he fell ''from his high estate," 
he lost, with his purity, that knowledge of God which in his 
primeval condition formed the noblest endowment of his mind. 
And at length the whole human race haying increased in wicked- 
ness until every thought and act was evil, God determined, by a 
flood, to purge the earth of this excess of sin. To Xoah, how- 
ever, he was merciful, and to this patriarch and his posterity was 
to be intrusted the knowledge of the true God. But on the 
plains of Shinar man again rebelled, and as a punishment of his 
rebellion, at the lofty tower of Babel, language was confounded , 
and mason?'?/ lost, for masonry then, as now, consisted in a know- 
ledge of these great truths, that there is one God, and that the 
soul is immortal. The patriarchs, however, were saved from 
the general moral desolation, and still preserved true masonry, 
or the knowledge of these dogmas, in the patriarchal line. The 
Gentile nations, on the contrary, fell rapidly from one error into 
another, and, losing sight of the one great I AM, substituted 
in his place the names of heroes and distinguished men, whom, 
by a ready apotheosis, they converted into the thousand deities 
who occupied the calendar of their religious worship. 

The philosophers and sages, however, still retained, or dis- 
covered by the dim light of nature , some traces of these great 
doctrines of masonry, the unity of God, and the immortality of 
the soul. But these doctrines they dared not teach in public, 
for history records what would have been the fa.e of such teme- 
rity, when it informs us that Socrates paid th,} forfeit of his 
life for his boldness in proclaiming these truths to the Athenian 
youth. 

They therefore taught in secret what they were afraid to in- 
culcate in public, and established for this purpose the Ancient 
Mysteries, those truly masonic institutions, which, by a series of 



30 ANT 

solemn and imposing ceremonies, prepared the mind of the ini- 
tiate for the reception of those unpopular dogmas, while, by the 
caution exercised in the selection of candidates, and the obliga- 
tions of secrecy imposed upon them, the teachers were secured 
from all danger of popular bigotry and fanaticism. A full de- 
scription of these Mysteries will be found in this work under the 
appropriate title. Their members went through a secret cere- 
mony of initiation, by which they became entitled to a full 
participation in the esoteric knowledge of the order, and were in 
possession of certain modes of recognition known only to them- 
selves. In all of them, there was, in addition to the instructions 
in relation to the existence of a Supreme Deity, a legend in 
which, by the dramatic representation of the violent death and 
subsequent restoration to life of some distinguished personage, 
the doctrines of the resurrection and the soul's immortality were 
emblematically illustrated. 

Among these religious institutions was that of the Dionysian 
Mysteries, which were celebrated throughout Greece and Asia 
Minor, and in which the peculiar legend was the murder of 
Bacchus, or, as the Greeks called him, Dionysus, by the Titans, 
and his subsequent restoration to life. The priests of Dionysus, 
having devoted themselves to architectural pursuits, established, 
about one thousand years before the Christian era, a society of 
builders in Asia Minor, who are styled by the ancient writeis 
" The Fraternity of Dionysian Architects," and to this society 
was exclusively confined the privilege of erecting temples and 
other public buildings. 

The fraternity of Dionysian Architects were linked together 
by the secret ties of the Dionysian Mysteries, into which they 
had all been initiated. Thus constituted, the fraternity was dis- 
tinguished by many peculiarities that strikingly assimilate it to 
our order. In the exercise of charity, the "more opulent were 
sacredly bound to provide for the exigencies of the poorer breth- 
ren." For the facilities of labour and government, they were 
divided into lodges, each of which was governed by a Master and 



ANT 37 

"Wardens. They employed in their ceremonial observances many 
of the implements which are still to be found among Freemasons, 
and used like them, a universal language, by which one brother 
could distinguish another in the dark as well as in the light, and 
which served to unite the members scattered over India, Persia, 
and Syria, into one common brotherhood. The existence of this 
order in Tyre, at the time of the building of the Temple, is uni- 
versally admitted ; and Hiram, the widow's son, to whom Solo- 
mon intrusted the superiutendence of the workmen, as an in- 
habitant of Tyre, and as a skilful architect and cunning and 
curious workman, was doubtless one of its members. Hence we 
are scarcely claiming too much for our order, when we suppose 
that the Dionysians were sent by Hiram, King of Tyre, to assist 
King Solomon in the construction of the house he was about to 
dedicate to Jehovah, and that they communicated to their Jewish 
fellow-labourers a knowledge of the advantages of their fraternity, 
and invited them to a participation in its mysteries and privileges. 
In this union, however, the apocryphal legend of the Dionysians 
gave way to the true legend of the Masons, which was unhappily 
furnished by a melancholy incident that occurred at the time. 

Upon the completion of the Temple, the workmen who had 
been engaged in its construction necessarily dispersed, to extend 
their knowledge and to renew their labours in other lands. But 
we do not lose sight of the order. W T e find it still existing in 
Judea, under the name of the Essenian Fraternity. This 
was rather a society of philosophers than of architects, and in 
this respect it approached still nearer to the character of modern 
speculative masonry. The Essenians were, however, undoubtedly 
connected with the Temple, as their origin is derived by the 
learned Scaliger, with every appearance of truth, from the Kassi- 
deans, a fraternity of Jewish devotees, who, in the language of 
Lawrie, had associated together as "Knights of the Temple of 
Jerusalem, to adorn the porches of that magnificent structure, 
and to preserve it from injury and decay." The Essenians were 
peculiarly strict in scrutinizing the characters of all those who 

4 



38 ANT 

applied for admission into their fraternity. The successful candi- 
date, at the termination of his probationary novitiate, was pre- 
sented by the Elders of the society with a white garment, as an 
emblem of the purity of life to which he was to aspire, and which, 
like the unsullied apron, the first gift that we bestow upon an 
Entered Apprentice, was esteemed more honourable than aught 
that any earthly prince could give. An oath was administered 
to him, by which he bound himself not to divulge the secrets 
with which he should be intrusted, and not to make any innova- 
tions upon the settled usages of the society. He was then made 
acquainted with certain modes of recognition, and was instructed 
in the traditionary knowledge of the order. They admitted no 
women into their fraternity ; abolished all distinctions of rank ; 
and devoted themselves to the acquisition of knowledge and the 
dispensation of charity. 

From the Essenians, Pythagoras derived much if not all of the 
knowledge and the ceremonies with which he clothed the esoteric 
school of his philosophy; and while this identity of doctrines and 
ceremonies is universally admitted by profane historians, many 
of the most competent of our own writers have attributed the 
propagation of masonry into Europe to the efforts of the Grecian 
sage. It is certain that such an opinion was prevalent not less 
than four centuries ago ; for in the ancient manuscript, now well 
known to Masons, which was discovered by the celebrated Locke 
among the papers of the Bodleian Library, and which is said to 
be a copy of an original in the handwriting of King Henry the 
Sixth, himself a Mason, it is expressly said that Pythagoras 
brought masonry from Egypt and Syria into Greece, from whence, 
in process of time, it passed into England. 

I shall not vouch for the truth of this assumption; for notwith- 
standing the celebrity of Pythagoras even at this day among our 
fraternity, and the adoption into our lodges of his well-known 
problem, I am rather inclined to attribute the extension of ma- 
sonry into Europe to the frequent and continued communications 
with Palestine, in the earlier ages of the Christian dispensation. 



ANT 39 

About this period we shall find that associations of travelling 
architects existed in all the countries of the continent; that they 
journeyed from city to city, and were actively engaged in the 
construction of religious edifices and regal palaces.* The govern- 
ment of these fraternities of Freemasons — -for they had already 
begun to assume that distinctive appellation — was even then 
extremely regular. They lived in huts or lodges, (a name which 
our places of meeting still retain,) temporarily erected for their 
accommodation, near the building on which they were employed. 
Every tenth man received the title of Warden, and was occupied 
in superintending the labours of those placed under him, while 
the direction and supervision of the whole was intrusted to a 
Master chosen by the fraternity. 

Freemasons continued for a long time to receive the protection 
and enjoy the patronage of the church and the nobility, until the 
former, becoming alarmed at the increase of their numbers and 
the extension of their privileges, began to persecute them with 
an unrelenting rigour, which eventually led to their suspension on 
the continent. Many lodges, however, had already been estab- 
lished in Great Britain, and these, shielded by the comparative 
mildness and justice of the British laws, continued to propagate 
the doctrines of the order throughout England and Scotland, and 
to preserve unimpaired its ancient landmarks. From the royal 
city of York in England, and the village and abbey of Kil fanning, 
the cradle of masonry in Scotland, our order continued to be 
disseminated and to flourish, throughout the two kingdoms, with 
undiminished lustre, long after the lodges of their less fortunate 
brethren had been dissolved by the persecutions on the continent. 
From this period, the institutions of masonry began to be extend- 
ed with rapidity, and to be established with permanency. The 
dignity of the order was elevated, as the beauty of its principles 
became known. Nobles sought with avidity the honour of initia- 
tion into our sacred rites, and the gavel of the Grand Master has 
been more than once wielded by the hand of a king. 

* See the article Travelling Freemasons, in this work 



40 APII— APP 

aPHANISM. It is stated in the preceding article that in 
the Ancient Mysteries there always was a legend of the death 
and subsequent resurrection, or finding, of the body of some dis- 
tinguished personage. That part of the ceremonies which re- 
presented the concealing of the body was called the aj>hanism, 
from the Greek work a<pa\>i£a>, to conceal. 

APPEx\L. The Master is supreme in his lodge, so far as 
the lodge is concerned. He is amenable for his conduct in the 
government of the lodge, not to its members, but to the Grand 
Lodge alone. In deciding points of order, as well as graver 
matters, no appeal can be taken from that decision to the lodge. 
If an appeal were proposed, it would be his duty, for the pre- 
servation of discipline, to refuse to put the question. If a mem- 
ber is aggrieved with the conduct or the decision of the Master, 
he has his redress by an appeal to the Grand Lodge, which will, 
of course, see that the Master does not rule his lodge " in an un- 
just or arbitrary manner." But such a thing as an appeal from 
the Master to the lodge, is unknown in masonry. See Master of 
a Lodge. 

The General Grand Chapter of the United States has deter- 
mined that there can be no appeal from the decision of a High 
Priest to his Chapter. 

A similar decision has been made by the Hon. W. B. Hubbard, 
the General Grand Master of the Knights Templar, in relation to 
appeals from Grand Commanders to their Encampments, and his 
decision appears to have been sustained by the General Grand 
Encampment. 

APPRENTICE. The Entered Apprentice is the first degree 
in masonry, and though it supplies no historical knowledge, it is 
replete with information on the internal structure of the order. 
It is remarkable, too, for the beauty of the morality which it 
inculcates. As an Entered Apprentice, a lesson of humility, and 
contempt of worldly riches and earthly grandeur, is impressed 



APR 41 

upon the mind by symbolic ceremonies, too important in their 
character ever to be forgotten. The beauty and holiness of 
charity are depicted in emblematic modes, stronger and more 
lasting than mere language can express; and the neophyte is 
directed to lay a corner-stone of virtue and purity, upon which 
he is charged to erect a superstructure, alike honourable to him- 
self, and to the fraternity of which he is hereafter to compose a 
part. 

This degree is considered as "the weakest part of masonry," 
and hence, although an Entered Apprentice is allowed to sit in a 
lodge of his degree, he is not permitted to speak or vote on the 
proceedings. 

When a candidate is initiated into this degree, he is techi- 
cally said to be "entered," that is, he has been permitted to en- 
ter the ground-floor of the temple, for a reason well known to 
Masons. 

APRON. The lambskin or white leather apron, is the badge 
of a Mason, and the first gift bestowed by the Master upon the 
newly initiated Apprentice. The apron is worn by operative 
Masons, to preserve their garments from spot or stain. But we, 
as speculative Masons, use it for a more noble purpose. By the 
whiteness of its colour, and the innocence of the animal from 
which it is obtained, we are admonished to preserve that blame- 
less purity of life and conduct which will alone enable us here- 
after to present ourselves before the Grand Master of the Uni- 
verse, unstained with sin and unsullied with vice. 

Investiture constituted an important part of the Ancient Mys- 
teries; and as the white apron is the investiture of masonry, we 
find something resembling it in all the pagan rites The Esse- 
nians clothed their candidate with a white robe, reaching to the 
ground, and bordered with a fringe of blue riband, as an emblem 
of holiness. In the mysteries of Greece the garment of initia- 
tion was also white; because, says Cicero, white is a colour most 

4* 



42 APR 

acceptable to the gods. This robe was considered sacred, and 
never taken off by the possessor, until worn to rags. In Persia, 
in the mysteries of Mithras, the robes of investiture were the 
Girdle, on which were depicted the signs of the Zodiac; the 
Tiara; The White Apron; and the Purple Tunic. In the mys- 
teries of Hindostan, the aspirant was presented with a consecrated 
Sash, consisting of a cord of nine threads, which was worn from 
the left shoulder to the right side. An apron, composed of the 
three masonic colours, blue, purple, and scarlet, was worn by the 
Jewish priesthood; and the prophets, on all occasions when about 
to perform any solemn duty, invested themselves with a girdle or 
apron. Lastly, all the ancient statues of the heathen gods, which 
have been discovered in Greece, Asia, or America, are decorated 
with superb aprons. We hence deduce the antiquity and honour 
of this important part of a Freemason's vestments, and substan- 
tiate the correctness of our claim, that it is " more ancient than 
the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle, and more honourable than 
the Star and Garter." 

The masonic apron is a pure white lambskin, from fourteen to 
sixteen inches wide, and from twelve to fourteen deep, with a 
fall about three to four inches deep; square at the bottom, with- 
out ornament, and bound in the symbolic degrees with blue, 
and in the Royal Arch with scarlet. In this country the con 
struction of the apron is the same in each of the symbolic de- 
grees, which are only distinguished by the mode in which th^ 
apron is worn. But in England the apron varies in each of the 
degrees.* 

The E.\ A.-, has a plain apron without ornament. 

The F.\ C.\ has an addition of two sky blue rosettes at the 
bottom. 

The M.\ M.\ has an additional rosette on the fall, and has sky- 
blue lining and edging, and silver tassels. 

W.\ Masters and Past Masters, in lieu of rosettes, wear per- 

• ;; A similar system is adopted in Germany. 



ARC 43 

pendicular lines on horizontal ones, like a j^ reversed, forming 
three sets of two right angles. 

The silk or satin apron is a French innovation, wholly un- 
niasonic, incompatible with the emblematic instruction of the 
investiture, and should never be tolerated in a lodge of York 
Masons. 

ARCH, ANTIQUITY OF THE. Writers on architecture 
have, until within a few years, been accustomed to suppose that 
the invention of the Arch and Keystone was not anterior to 
the era of Augustus. But the researches of modern antiquaries 
have traced the existence of the Arch as far back as 460 years 
before the building of King Solomon's temple, and thus com- 
pletely reconciled masonic tradition with the truth of history. 
See Keystone. 

ARCH OF ENOCH. The 13th degree of the Ancient and 
Accepted Rite. It is more commonly called "Knight of the 
Ninth Arch," to which the reader is referred. 

ARCH OF HEAVEN. Job xxvi. 11, compares heaven to 
an arch supported by pillars. a The pillars of heaven tremble 
and are astonished at his reproof." Dr. Cutbush, on this pas- 
sage, remarks — " The arch in this instance is allegorical, not only 
of the arch of heaven, but of the higher degree of masonry, 
commonly called the Holy Royal Arch. The pillars which sup- 
port the arch are emblematical of Wisdom and Strength; the 
former denoting the wisdom of the Supreme Architect, and the 
latter the stability of the Universe." — Am. Ed. Brewster's 
Encyc. 

ARCH OF STEEL. The Grand honours are conferred, in 
the French and Scotch rites, by two ranks of brethren elevating 
and crossing their drawn swords. They call it voute oVacier. 

ARCH, ROYAL. See Royal Arch. 



44 ARC— ARI 

ARCHITECTURE. The art of constructing dwellings, as a 
shelter from the heat of summer and the cold of winter, must 
have been resorted to from the very first moment in which man 
became subjected to the power of the elements. Architecture 
is, therefore, not only one of the most important, but one of the 
most ancient of sciences. Rude and imperfect must, however, 
have been the first efforts of the human race, resulting in the 
erection of huts clumsy in their appearance, and ages must have 
elapsed ere wisdom of design combined strength of material with 
beauty of execution. 

As Geometry is the science on which masonry is founded, 
Architecture is the art from which it borrows the language of its 
symbolic instruction. In the earlier ages of the order, every 
Mason was either an operative mechanic or a superintending 
architect. And something more than a superficial knowledge of 
the principles of architecture is absolutely essential to the Mason, 
who would either understand the former history of the institution 
or appreciate its present objects. 

There are five orders of Architecture, the Doric, the Ionic, 
the Corinthian, the Tuscan, and the Composite. The first three 
are the original orders, and were invented in Greece; the last 
two are of later formation, and owe their existence to Italy 
Each of these orders, as well as the otner terms of Architecture, 
so far as they are connected with Freemasonry, will be founl 
under their appropriate heads throughout this work. 

ARITHMETIC. That science which is engaged in consi- 
dering the properties and powers of numbers, and which, from its 
manifest necessity in all the operations of weighing, numbering, 
and measuring, must have had its origin in the remotest ages of 
the world. 

In the lecture of the degree of " Grand Master Architect," 
the application of this science to Freemasonry is made to consist 
in its reminding the Mason that he is continually to add to his 
knowledge, never to substract any thing from the character of his 



ARK 45 

neighbour, to multiply his benevolence to his fellow-creatures, 
and to divide his means with a suffering brother. 

ARK. The Ark of the Covenant or of the Testimony was a 
chest originally constructed by Moses at God's command, (Exod. 
xxv. 16,) in which were kept the two tables of stone, on which 
were engraved the ten commandments. It contained, likewise, 
a golden pot filled with manna, Aaron's rod, and the tables of the 
covenant. It was at first deposited in the most sacred place of 
the tabernacle, and afterward placed by Solomon in the Sanctum 
Sanctorum of the Temple, and was lost upon the destruction of 
that building by the Chaldeans. The masonic traditions on the 
subject of its future history are exceedingly interesting to Royal 
Arch Masons. 

The ark was made of shittim wood, overlaid, within and with- 
out, with pure gold. It was about three feet nine inches long, 
two feet three inches wide, and of the same extent in depth. It 
had on the side two rings of gold, through which were placed 
staves of shittim wood, by which, when necessary, it was borne 
by the Levites. Its covering was of pure gold, over which were 
placed two figures called Cherubim, with expanded wings. The 
covering of the ark was called haplviret, from kapJiar, to forgive 
sin. and hence its English name of " mercy-seat," as bei lg the 
place where the intercession for sin was made. 

ARK AND ANCHOR. Emblems of a well-grounded hope 
and a well-spent life, used in the Master's degree. They are 
emblematical of that divine ark which safely wafts us over this 
tempestuous sea of troubles, and that anchor which shall securely 
moor us in a peaceful harbour, where the wicked cease from 
troubling and the weary shall find rest. 

There is no symbol more common than the ark to the spurious 
masonry of the Ancient Mysteries, and the true or speculative 
Freemasonry. In the due celebration of their kindred mysteries, 
says Faber, a certain holy ark was equally used by the Greeks, 
the Italians, the Celts, the Goths, the Phenicians, the Egyptians, 



46 ARK— ARM 

the Babylonians, the Hindoos, the Mexicans, the Northern Ameri- 
cans, and the Islanders of the Pacific Ocean. * Historically this 
ark referred to the ark of Noak, but symbolically it was used as 
a coffin to receive the body of the candidate, and was an emblem 
of regeneration or resurrection. "With this view the explanation 
we have given above from the masonic ritual accurately accords, 
and hence the ark and anchor have been appropriately adopted 
as symbols of the third degree, or that in which the doctrine of 
the resurrection is emphatically taught. 

ARK AND DOVE. An illustrative degree, preparatory to 
the Royal Arch, and usually conferred, when conferred at all, 
immediately before the solemn ceremony of exaltation. The 
name of Noachite, sometimes given to it, is incorrect, as this be- 
longs to a degree in the ancient Scotch rite. It is very probable 
that the degree, which now, however, has lost much of its signi- 
ficance, was derived from a much older one called the Royal Ark 
Mariners, to which the reader is referred. The previous article 
shows that the ark and dove formed an important part of the 
spurious Freemasonry of the ancients. 

ARK, SUBSTITUTE. The Substitute Ark, is that which 
is represented in the Royal Arch and Select Master's degrees, 
being a substitute for the original Ark of the Covenant that was 
lost at the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar. 

ARMS OF FREEMASONRY. " The Masons," says Bailey, 
"were incorporated about the years 1419, having been called the 
Freemasons. Their armorial ensigns are, azure on a cheveron 
between three castles argent ; a pair of compasses somewhat ex- 
tended, of the first. Crest a castle of the second." 

The arms of the Grand Lodge, according to Dermot, are the 
same as those now adopted by Royal Arch Masonry in this 
country, which may be blazoned as follows : 

Party per cross vert voided or; in the first quarter, azure, a 



* Origin of Pagan Idolatry, vol. iii. p. 121. 



ART 47 

lion rampant, or, for the tribe of Judah ; in the second, or, an 
ox passant, sable for Ephraim; in the third, or, a man erect, 
proper, for Reuben; in the fourth, azure, a spread eagle, or, for 
Dan Crest an ark of the covenant; and supporters, two cheru- 
bim, all proper. Motto, u Holiness to the Lord." 

The impossibility of blazoning a coat, except in the terms of 
heraldry, will, I trust, be my excuse for the technical nature of 
this description, which, I know, must be unintelligible to all who 
are unacquainted with the principles of heraldry. The plate of 
this coat of arms may, however, be seen in Cross's Chart. 

These arms are derived from the " tetrarchical" (as Sir Thos. 
Browne calls them) or general banners of the four principal 
tribes : for it is said that the twelve tribes, during their passage 
through the wilderness, were encamped in a hollow square, three 
on each side, as follows : Judah, Zebulon, and Issachar, in the 
east, under the general banner of Judah ; Dan, Asher, and Naph- 
tali, in the north, under the banner of Dan; Ephraim, Manasseh, 
and Benjamin, in the west, under the banner of Ephraim; and 
Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, in the south, under Reuben. See 
Banners. 

ARTS, LIBERAL. The seven liberal arts and sciences are 
illustrated in the Fellow Craft's degree. They are Grammar, 
Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy. 
Grammar is the science which teaches us to express our ideas in 
appropriate words, which we may afterward beautify and adorn 
by means of Rhetoric, while Logic instructs us how to think 
and reason with propriety, and to make language subordinate to 
thought. Arithmetic, which is the science of computing by 
numbers, is absolutely essential, not only to a thorough know- 
ledge of all mathematical science, but also to a proper pursuit 
of our daily avocations. Geometry, or the application of Arith- 
metic to sensible quantities, is of all sciences the most important, 
since by it we are enabled to measure and survey the globe that 
we inhabit. Its principles extend to other spheres; and, occu- 



48 ASH 

pied in the contemplation and measurement of the sun, moon, 
and heavenly bodies, constitute the science of Astronomy; and 
lastly, when our minds are filled, and our thoughts enlarged, by 
the contemplation of all the wonders which these sciences open 
to our view, Music comes forward, to soften our hearts and culti- 
vate our affections by its soothing influences. 

The preservation of these arts as a part of the ritual of the 
Fellow Craft's degree, is another evidence of the antiquity of 
Freemasonry. These " seven liberal arts," as they were then for 
the first time called, constituted in the eighth century the whole 
circle of the sciences. The first three were distinguished by the 
title of tritium, and the last four by that of quadrivium, and 
to their acquisition the labours and studies of scholars were di- 
rected, while beyond them they never attempted to soar. 

Mosheim, speaking of the state of literature in the eleventh 
century, uses the following language : "The seven liberal arts, 
as they were now styled, were taught in the greatest part of the 
schools, that were erected in this century for the education of 
youth. The first stage of these sciences was grammar, which 
was followed successively by rhetoric and logic. When the dis- 
ciple, having learned these branches, which were generally known 
by the name of trivium, extended his ambition further, and was 
desirous of new improvement in the sciences, he was conducted 
slowly through the quadrivium (arithmetic, music, geometry, 
and astronomy), to the very summit of literary fame."* 

ASHLAR. " Free stone as it comes out of the quarry." — 
Bailey. In speculative masonry we adopt the Ashlar in two dif- 
ferent states, as symbols in the Apprentice's degree. The Rough 
Ashlar, or stone in its rude and unpolished condition, is emble- 
matic of man in his natural state — ignorant, uncultivated, and 
vicious. But when education has exerted its wholesome influence 
in expanding his intellect, restraining his passions, and purifying 
bis life, he then is represented by the Perfect Ashlar, which, un- 

* Hist. Ecclesiast., Cent. xi., p. ii v c. 1, \ 5 



ASS— AST 49 

der the skilful hands of the workmen, has been smoothed, and 
squared, and fitted for its place in the building. 

Oliver says that the Perfect Ashlar should be " a stone of a 
true die square, which can only be tried by the square and com- 
passes."* But he admits that some brethren do not consider this 
form as essential. In American lodges it certainly is not. 

ASSEMBLY. The annual meetings of the craft, previous to 
the organization of Grand Lodges in their present form, were 
called " General Assemblies." Thus, under the G-rand Master- 
ship of the Earl of St. Albans, we read of the " Regulations made 
in G-eneral xlssembly, Dec. 27, 1663." 

Anderson says,"j~ that it is written in the Old Constitutions, that 
" Prince Edwin purchased a free charter of King Athelstane, his 
brother, for the Freemasons to have among themselves a correc- 
tion, or a power and freedom to regulate themselves, to amend 
what might happen to be amiss, and to hold a yearly communica- 
tion in a G-eneral Assembly." This charter was granted A. D. 
926, and in that year the first General Assembly in England was 
held at the city of York, where due regulations for the govern- 
ment of the craft were adopted. These regulations of the Assem- 
bly at York have ever since remained unaltered, and it is from 
our submitting to their authority that we derive the name we bear 
of " Ancient York Masons." 

ASTRONOMY. The science which instructs us in the laws 
that govern the heavenly bodies. Its origin is lost in the abyss 
of antiquity ; for the earliest inhabitants of the earth must have 
been attracted by the splendour of the glorious firmament above 
them., and would have sought in the motions of its luminaries for 
the readiest and most certain method of measuring time. With 
Astronomy the system of Freemasonry is intimately connected. 
From that science many of our most significant emblems are 
borrowed. The lodge itself is a representation of the world \ it 



* Landmarks, vol. i., p. 146. f Constitutions, p. 84. 



50 ASY— ATH 

is adorned with the images of the sun and moon, whose regular- 
ity and precision furnish a lesson of wisdom and prudence ; its 
pilars of strength and establishment have been compared to the 
two columns which the ancients placed at the equinoctial points 
as supporters of the arch of heaven ; the blazing star which was 
among the Egyptians a symbol of Anubis or the dog-star, whose 
rising foretold the overflowing of the Nile, shines in the east ; 
while the clouded canopy is decorated with the beautiful Pleiades 
The connection between our order and astronomy is still more 
manifest in the spurious Freemasonry of antiquity, where, the 
pure principles of our system being lost, the symbolic instruction 
of the heavenly bodies gave place to the corrupt Sabean worship 
of the sun, and moon, and stars — a worship whose influences are 
seen in all the mysteries of Paganism. 

ASYLUM. During the session of a Commandery of Knights 
Templars, a part of the room is called the asylum ; the word has 
hence been adopted, by the figure synecdoche, to signify the place 
of meeting of a Commandery. 

ATELIER. {French.') A lodge. 

ATHEIST. One who does not believe in the existence of 
God. Such a creed can only arise from the ignorance of stupidity 
or a corruption of principle, since the whole universe is filled 
with the moral and physical proofs of a Creator. He who doep 
not look to a superior and superintending power as his maker 
and his judge, is without that coercive principle of salutary fear 
which should prompt him to do good and to eschew evil, and bis 
oath can, of necessity, be no stronger than bis word. Masons, 
looking to the dangerous tendency of such a tenet, have wisely 
discouraged it, by declaring that no atheist can be admitted to par- 
ticipate in their fraternity ; and the better to carry this law into 
effect, every candidate, before passing through any of the cere- 



ATH— BAB 51 

monies of initiation, is required, publicly and solemnly, to declare 
his trust in God. 

ATHOL MASONS. The Masons who, in 1739, seceded from 
the authority of the Grand Lodge of England, and established 
themselves as an irregular body under the name of " Ancient Ma- 
sons," having succeeded in obtaining the countenance of the Duke 
of Athol, elected that nobleman, in 1776, their G-rand Master, 
an office which he uninterruptedly held until 1813, when the 
union of the two G-rand Lodges took place. In consequence of 
this long administration of thirty-seven years, the "Ancient Ma- 
sons" are sometimes called " Athol Masons." 

ATTOUCHEMENT. (French.) A grip. 

AUGUST. A title bestowed upon the Royal Arch degree, in 
consequence of the imposing nature of its ceremonies, and the 
important mysteries it contains. 

AUM, AUN, or ON. The Hindoo and Egyptian chief deity 
See more on this subject in Jehovah. 

AXE. See Knight of the Royal Axe. 



, B. 

BABEL. This word, which in Hebrew means confusion, was 
the name of that celebrated tower attempted to be built or. 
the plains of Shinar, A. M. 1775, about one hundred and 
forty years after the deluge, and which, Holy Writ informs 
us, was destroyed by a special interposition of the Almighty. 
The Noachite Masons date the commencement of their order 



52 BAB— BAC 

from this destruction, (see " Nbachites,") and much tradition- 
ary information on this subject is preserved in the ineffable 
degree of "Patriarch Noachite," to which title the reader is 
referred. 

At Babel, what has been called Spurious Freemasonry took 
its origin. That is to say, the people there abandoned the 
worship of the true God, and by their dispersion lost all know- 
ledge of his existence, and of the principles of truth upon 
which masonry is founded. Hence it is that our traditionary 
ceremonies speak of the lofty tower of Babel as the place where 
language was confounded and masonry lost.* 

BABYLON. The ancient capital of Chaldea, situated on 
both sides of the Euphrates, and once the most magnificent 
city of the ancient world. It was here, that upon the de- 
struction of Solomon's Temple by Nebuchadnezzar in the year 
of the world 3394, the Jews of the tribes of Judah and Ben- 
jamin, who were the inhabitants of Jerusalem, were conveyed 
and detained in captivity for seventy-two years, until Cyrus, 
King of Persia, issued a decree for restoring them, and per- 
mitted them to rebuild their temple under the superintendence 
of Zerubbabel, the Governor of Judea, and with the assistance of 
Joshua the High Priest, and Haggai the Scribe. 

BACULUS. In ecclesiology, baculus is the name given to 
the pastoral staff carried by a bishop or abbot, " as symbolical," 
says Durandus, " of his power to inflict pastoral correction." 
As an emblem of authority and dignity, it is to bishops what the 
sceptre is to kings, and hence, it was also used by the heads of 
confraternities. In this way the baculus, or pastoral staff, came 
to be a part of the insignia of the Grand Master of the Knights 
Templars. It is also called, by ecclesiastical writers, pedum, 

* For more on this subject, sec Oman. 



BAD— BAL 53 

which signifies a shepherd's staff, and under the title of " pedum 
magistrale seu patriarehale," that is to say, "a magisterial or 
patriarchal staff/' it is described in the u Statuta Gommilitonum 
Ordinis Tempi!,'' (cap. xxviii. de Vestitu, § 358,) as a part of the 
vestiture of the Grand Master of the Templars. The Templar 
pastoral staff is properly a bacillus. Abacus is a wholly improper 
word, on which, unfortunately, American Masons have recently 
blundered while resting on the worthless authority of a line in 
the :; Ivanhoe " of Sir Walter Scott, who must certainly have 
written abacus while intending to write bacillus. See Abacus. 

BADGE OF A MASON. This is the lambskin or white 
leather apron, which must be worn in all lodges during the 
hours of labour. See Apron. 

BAHKDT'S RITE. This was a rite founded by a masonic 
charlatan of the name of Bahrdt, about the close of the eigh- 
teenth century. He opened a lodge at Halle, in Germany, 
under the name of the " German Union," and succeeded in 
securing the protection of the Prince of Anhaldt-Bernburg, 
and the co-operation of twenty-one persons of rank and cha- 
racter. This rite had six degrees, viz : 1, The Youth ; 2, The 
Man; 3, The Old Man; 4, The Mesopolyte; 5, The Dioce- 
san ; 6, The Superior. The Grand Lodge, however, dissolved 
the fraternity on the ground of their working without a charter, 
and Bahrdt himself was shortly after imprisoned for writing a 
corrupt work. 

BALLOT. In the election of candidates, lodges have re- 
course to a ballot of white and black balls. Unanimity of 
choice, in this case, is always desired and demanded; one 
blackball only being required to reject a candidate. This is an 
inherent privilege not subject to dispensation or interference of 
the Grand Lodge, because, as the ancient constitutions say, 
" the members of a particular lodge are the best judges of it ; 



54 BAL 

and because, if a turbulent member should be imposed upon 
them, it might spoil their harmony or hinder the freedom of 
their communications, or even break and disperse the lodge, which 
ought to be avoided by all true and faithful."* 

In balloting for a candidate for initiation, every member ia 
expected to vote No one can be excused from sharing the 
responsibility of admission or rejection, except by the unanimous 
consent of the lodge. Where a member has himself no personal 
01 acquired knowledge of the qualifications of the candidate, he 
is bound to give implicit faith to the recommendation of his bre- 
thren of the reporting committee, who, he has no right to suppose, 
would make a favourable report on the petition of an unworthy 
applicant. 

With these prefatory remarks, I proceed to a description of the 
general, and what is believed, to be the most correct usage, in bal- 
loting for candidates. 

The committee of investigation having reported favourably, the 
Master of the lodge directs the Senior Deacon to prepare the bal- 
lot-box.f The mode in which this is accomplished is as follows : 
The Senior Deacon takes the ballot-box, and opening it, places 
all the white and black balls indiscriminately in one compartment, 
leaving the other entirely empty. He then proceeds with the box 
to the Junior and Senior Wardens, who satisfy themselves by an 
inspection that no ball has been left in the compartment in which 
the votes are to be deposited. The box in this and the other 
instance to be referred to hereafter, is presented to the inferioi 
officer first, and then to his superior, that the examination and 
decision of the former may be substantiated and confirmed by the 
higher authority of the latter. Let it, indeed, be remembered, 



* See the word Unanimity. 

f There ia no necessity for the Master to inquire if it is the pleasure of the 
lodge to proceed to the election. The by-laws of all lodges requiring that an 
election should follow the favourable report of the committee, the ballot-box is 
ordered to be prepared as a matter of course, and in accordance with the con- 
Btitutional rule. 



BAL 55 

that in all such cases the usage of masonic circumambulation is 
to be observed, and that, therefore, we must first pass the Junior's 
station before we can get to that of the Senior Warden. 

These officers having thus satisfied themselves that the box is 
in a proper condition for the reception of the ballots, it is then 
placed upon the altar by the Senior Deacon, who retires to his 
seat. The Master then directs the Secretary to call the roll, 
which is done by commencing with the Worshipful Master, and 
proceeding through all the officers down to the youngest mem- 
ber. As a matter of convenience, the Secretary generally votes 
the last of those in the room, and then, if the Tiler is a mem- 
ber of the lodge, he is called in, while the Junior Deacon 
tiles for him, and the name of the applicant having been told 
him, he is directed to deposit his ballot, which he does and 
then retires. 

As the name of each officer and member is called, he ap- 
proaches the altar, and having made the proper masonic salu- 
tation to the Chair, he deposits his ballot and retires to his 
seat. The roll should be called slowly, so that at no time 
should there be more than one person present at the box, for 
the great object of the ballot being secrecy, no brother should 
be permitted so near the member voting as to distinguish the 
colour of the ball he deposits. 

The box is placed on the altar, and the ballot is deposited 
with the solemnity of a masonic salutation, that the voters may 
be duly impressed with the sacred and responsible nature of 
the duty they are called on to discharge. The system of vot- 
ing thus described, is, therefore, far better on this account 
than that sometimes adopted in lodges, of handing round the 
box for the members to deposit their ballots from their seats. 

The master having inquired of the Wardens if all have voted, 
then orders the Senior Deacon to "take charge of the ballot-box." 
That officer accordingly repairs to the altar, and taking possession 
of the box, carries it, as before, to the Junior Warden, who ex- 
amines the ballot, and reports, if all the balls are white, that "the 



56 BAL 

Dox is clear in the South," or, if there is one or more black balls, 
that "the box is foul in the South." The Deacon then carries 
it to the Senior Warden, and afterward to the Master, who, of 
course, make the same report, according to the circumstance, with 
the necessary verbal variations of "West" and "East." 

If the box is dear — that is, if all the ballots are white — the 
Master then announces that the applicant has been duly elected, 
and the Secretary makes a record of the fact. But if the box is 
foid, the subsequent proceedings will depend upon the number of 
balls, and upon the peculiar by-laws of the lodge in which the 
ballot has been taken. 

The box having been declared to be foul, the Master inspects 
the number of black balls; if he finds only one, he so states the 
fact to the lodge, and orders the Senior Deacon again to prepare 
the' ballot-box. Here the same ceremonies are passed through 
that have already been described. The balls are removed into one 
compartment, the box is submitted to the inspection of the War- 
dens, it is placed upon the altar, the roll is called, the members 
advance and deposit their votes, the box is scrutinized, and the 
result declared by the Wardens and Master. If again but one 
black ball be found, or if on this ballot two black balls are found, 
or if there were two or more on the first ballot, the Master an- 
nounces that the petition of the applicant has been rejected, and 
directs the usual record to be made by the Secretary and the 
notification to be given to the G-raud Lodge. It is the usage in 
many lodges, for the Senior Deacon to carry the ballot-box 
around to the members, instead of placing it on the altar; but 
the latter is certainly better as being accompanied with more 
solemnity. 

BALUSTRE. All documents issued by the Sovereign In- 
spectors or Supreme Councils of the 33d degree, Ancient Scotch 
rite, are called " Balustres," from the French "balustre," a 
little pillar, in allusion to the fact that laws and edicts were 
formerly engraved on pillars. 



BAN 57 

BANNERS. In symbolic masonry, six banners are generally 
borne in processions, the material of which is white satin or silk, 
bordered with a blue fringe, and on each of which is inscribed one 
of the following words : Faith, Hope, Charity, Wisdom, Strength, 
l>eauty. 

In the Royal Arch Chapter, there are four officers who carry 
banners. The Royal Arch Captain carries a white banner, as ar 
emblem of that purity of heart and rectitude of conduct which 
ought to actuate all those who pass the white veil of the sanctuary. 
The Master of the Third Yeil carries a scarlet banner, emblema- 
tical of that fervency and zeal which should characterize the pos- 
sessors of the Royal Arch degree of which it is the appropriate colour. 
The Master of the Second Veil carries a purple banner, which is 
emblematic of union, because it is produced by a due mixture of 
scarlet and blue, the former the colour of Royal Arch and the lat- 
ter of symbolic masonry, and inculcates harmony betwen these 
divisions of the craft. The Master of the First Veil carries a blue 
banner, which is emblematic of universal friendship and benevo- 
lence, and is the appropriate colour of the first three degrees. 

On the tracing board of the Royal Arch degree, as practised in 
the Chapters of England, are found the banners of the twelve tribes 
of Israel, which were as follow : 

Judah, scarlet, a lion couchant. 

Issachar, blue, an ass crouching beneath its burden. 

Zebulon, purple, a ship. 

Reuben, red, a man. 

Simeon, yellow, a sword. 

Gad, white, a troop of horsemen. 

Ephraim, green, an ox. 

Manasseh, flesh-coloured, a vine by the side of a wall. 

Benjamin, green, a wolf. 

Dan, green, an eagle. 

Asher, purple, a cup. 

Naphtali, blue, a hind. 

We come now to what may be called the General Standard of 



58 BAN 

Freemasonry. This is a banner belonging peculiarly to the order, 
as the beauseant did to the Templars, and which may be borne in 
all processions of the craft, to distinguish them from any other 
association of men. Its device is nothing but the coat of arms 
of the order of speculative Freemasons as it was long since adopt- 
ed, and as it is described by Dermott, in his Ahiman Rezon. In 
this country this banner has, by some, been improperly supposed 
to belong exclusively to the Royal Arch, in consequence of Cross 
having placed the representation of its device in his chart, among 
the plates which are illustrative of that degree. But it is, in fact, 
the common property of the order, and may be carried in the proces- 
sions of a Master's lodge, as well as in those of a Chapter. I 
refer, for an exemplification of it, to the fortieth in the series of 
plates given in the Chart of Jeremy Cross. The escutcheon, or 
shield on the banner, is divided into four compartments or quarters 
by a green cross, over which a narrower one of the same length 
of limb, and of a yellow colour, is placed, forming what the heralds 
call "a cross vert, voided or ;" each of the compartments formed 
by the limbs of the cross, is occupied by a different device. In 
the first quarter is placed a golden lion on a field of blue, to re- 
present the standard of the tribe of Judah; in the second, a block 
ox on a field of gold, to represent Ephraim ; in the third, a man 
on a field of gold to represent Reuben; and, in the fourth, a golden 
eagle on a blue ground, to represent Dan. Over all is placed, as 
the crest, an ark of the convenant, and the motto is, " Holiness to 
the Lord." 

These were the banners of the four principal tribes, for " when 
the Israelites marched through the wilderness," says Dr. Ashe, 
"we find that the twelve tribes had between them four principal 
banners or standards, every one of which had its particular motto; 
and each standard also had a distinct sign described upon it. 
They encamped roi nd about the tabernacle, and on the east side 
were three tribes under the standard of Judah j on the west, were 
three tribes under the standard of Ephraim ; on the south, were 
three tribes under the standard of Reuben ; and, on the north, 



BAN— BEA 59 

were three tribes under the standard of Dan ; and the standard 
of Judah was a lion, that of Ephraim an ox, that of Reuben, a 
man, and that of Dan, an eagle- — whence were framed the hiero- 
glyphics of cherubim and seraphim to represent the people of 
Israel." 

As the standard or banner of Freemasonry in thus made up of 
and derived from these banners of the four leading tribes of Israel, 
it may be interesting to learn what was the symbolic meaning 
given by the Hebrews to these ensigns. Vatablus quotes a Jewish 
writer, as saying that the man in the banner of Reuben, signified 
religion and reason ; the lion, in that of Judah, denoted power ; 
the ox, in that of Ephraim, represented patience and toilsome la- 
bour; and the eagle, in that of Dan, betokened wisdom, agility, 
and sublimity. But although such may have been the emblematic 
meaning of these devices among the Israelites, the combination of 
them in the masonic banner is only intended to indicate the Jewish 
origin of our institution from Solomon, who was the last king of 
Israel under whom the twelve tribes were united. 

BANQUET. The Banquets in English and American masonry 
do not differ from the convivial meetings of other societies, with the 
exception, perhaps, that the rule prohibiting the introduction of 
debates on religious and political subjects, is more rigidly enforced. 
But in the French lodges, the Banquets are regulated by a par- 
ticular system of rules, and the introduction of ceremonies which 
distinguish them from all other social assemblies. The room ia 
closely tiled, and no attendants, except those who are of the fra- 
ternity, are permitted to be present. 

BAREFOOT. See Dhcalceation. 

BEADLE. An officer in a council of Knights of the Holy 
Sepulchre, corresponding to the Junior Deacon of a symbolio 
lodge. 



60 BEA— BEL 

BEAUSEANT. The banner composed of a black and a white 
horizontal stripe, which was peculiar to the ancient Templars. 
It bore this inscription : Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed no- 
mini tuo, da gloriam. 

BEAUTY. One of the three principal supports of masonry, 
the other two being Wisdom and Strength. It is represented 
by the Corinthian column and the J.-. W.\, because the Corin- 
thian is the most beautiful and highly finished of the orders, and 
because the situation of the J.-. W.\ in the S.\ enables him the 
better to observe that bright luminary which, at its meridian 
height, is the beauty and glory of the day. H.\ A.-, is also con- 
sidered as the representative of the column of Beauty which sup- 
ported the Temple. 

BEEHIYE. An emblem of industry appropriated to the third 
degree. This is a virtue ever held in high esteem among the 
craft, for our old charges tell us that " all Masons shall work 
honestly on working days, that they may live creditably on holi- 
days." There seems, however, to be a more recondite meaning 
connected with this symbol. The ark has already been shown to 
have been an emblem common to Freemasonry and the ancient 
mysteries, as a symbol of regeneration — of the second birth from 
death to life. Now in the mysteries a hive was a type of the ark. 
"Hence," says Faber, " both the diluvian priestesses and the re- 
generated souls were called bees ; hence bees were feigned to be 
produced from the carcase of a cow, which also symbolized the 
ark ; and hence, as the great father was esteemed an infernal 
god, honey was much used both in funeral rites and in the mys- 
teries ."* 

BEL. Bel, Baal, or Bui, is the name of God as worshipped 
among the Chaldeans and Phenicians. See Jehovah. 



• Orig. of Pag. Idol., vol ii. 133. 



BEN 61 

BENAC. A corrupted form of a Hebrew word signifying "the 
builder." 

BENEFIT FUND. In 1708, a society was established in 
London, under the patronage of the Prince of Wales, the Earl 
of Moira, and all the other acting officers of the Grand Lodge, 
whose object was "the relief of sick, aged, and imprisoned bre- 
thren, and the protection of their widows, children, and orphans." 
The payment of one guinea per annum entitled every member, 
when sick or destitute, or his widow and orphans in case of his 
death, to a fixed contribution. 

Benefit funds of this kind have, until very lately, been unknown 
to the Masons of America, but within a few years several lodges 
have established a fund for the purpose. The lodge of Strict 
Observance in the city of New York, and others in Troy, Ball- 
ston, Schenectady, etc., have adopted Benefit Funds. In 1844, 
several members of the lodges in Louisville, Kentucky, organized 
a society under the title of the "Friendly Sons of St. John." 
Jt is constructed after the model of the English society already 
mentioned. No member is received after 45 years of age, or who 
is not a contributing member of a lodge; the per diem allowance 
to sick members is seventy-five cents ; fifty dollars is appropriated 
to pay the funeral expenses of a deceased member, and twenty- 
five for those of a member's wife; on the death of a member a 
gratuity is given to his family ; ten per cent, of all fees and dues 
is appropriated to an orphan fund; and it is contemplated, if the 
funds will justify, to pension the widows of deceased members, 
if their circumstances require it. 

Further reflection and a more careful investigation of the prin- 
ciples of our order, since the first edition of this work, have con- 
vinced me that the establishment in lodges of such benefit funds 
as are described in the last paragraph, are in opposition to the 
pure system of masonic charity. They have, therefore, been very 
properly discouraged by several Grand Lodges. 

6 



62 BEZ— BLU 

BEZALEEL. The artificer to whom, with Aholiab, was en- 
trusted the construction of the Ark of the Covenant and other 
things pertaining to the tabernacle in the wilderness. They 
worked under the supervision of Moses, and hence in portions 
of the American Royal Arch the names of Moses, Aholiab, and 
^Bezaleel are conjoined as referring to the Ark of the Covenant. 

BIBLE. Emphatically is the Bible called a greater light of 
masonry, for from the centre of the lodge, it pours forth upon the 
East, the West, and the South, its refulgent rays of Divine truth. 
The Bible is used among Masons as the symbol of the will 
of God, however it may be expressed. See Furniture. 

BLACK. TI113 colour is a symbol of grief and mourning. In 
the degree of Knight Templar it refers to the execution of James 
de Molay ; in the elu degrees of the Scotch and other rites to the 
death of tl e chief builder at the temple; and in the Rose Croix 
to the crucifixion. 

BLAZING STAR. The blazing star constitutes one of the 
ornaments of the lodge. Formerly it was said to be " commemo- 
rative of the star which appeared to guide the wise men of the 
East to the place of our Saviour's nativity." But as this allusion, 
however beautiful, interferes with the universal character of ma- 
sonry, it is now generally omitted, and the blazing star is said to 
be an emblem of Divine Providence. In the English ritual it is 
emblematic of Prudence. Dr. Hemming, quoted by Oliver, says 
that it refers to the sun "which enlightens the earth with its re- 
fulgent rays, dispensing its blessings to mankind at large, and 
giving light and life to all things here below." 

BLUE. The appropriate colour of the first three degrees or 
ancient craft masonry, and has been explained as emblematic of 
universal friendship and benevolence, instructing us, that in the 



BLU— BOO 63 

mind of a Mason those virtues should be as extensive as the blue 
arch of heaven itself. 

BLUE MASONRY. The degrees of Entered Apprentice, 
Fellow Craft, and Master Mason, are called Blue Masonry, and 
lodges in which they are conferred are called Blue Lodges, be- 
cause the decorations of these degrees are of this colour. 

BOAZ. The name of the left hand pillar that stood at the 
porch of King Solomon's temple. It is derived from the He- 
brew 3, b "in," and J J,*, oaz, "strength/' and signifies "in 
strength." See Pillars. 

BONE. This word which is now corruptly pronounced in one 
syllable is the Hebrew word boneh, PO'D* "builder/' from the 
verb banah, POD, " to build." It was peculiarly applied, as an 
epithet, to Hiram Abif, who superintended the construction of the 
temple as its chief builder. 

BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS. The Book of Constitutions 
is that work in which is contained the rules and regulations of 
the order, an exposition of the duties of officers, the rights of 
members, the detail of ceremonies to be used on various occasions, 
such as consecrations, installations, funerals, etc. ; and, in fine, a 
summary of all the fundamental principles of masonry. To this 
book, reference is to be made in all cases, where the bye-laws of 
the Grand Lodge are silent or not sufficiently explicit. 

The earliest notice that we have of any such Constitutions is 
in a record, written in the reign of Edward IV., which states 
that Prince Edwin, having assembled the Masons at York, in 926, 
then framed the English constitutions of masonry from the wri- 
tings brought there in various languages. These Constitutions 
continued for a long time to govern the English craft under the 
name of the "Gothic Constitutions/' but as they were found. at 
the revival of masonry in the beginning of the eighteenth een- 



64 BOO 

tury, to be very erroneous and defective — probably from care- 
lessness or ignorance in their frequent transcription — in Sep- 
tember, 1721, the Duke of Montagu, who was then Grand Master, 
ordered Brother James Anderson to digest them "in a new and 
better method." 

Anderson having accordingly accomplished the important task 
that had been assigned him, in December of the same year, a 
committee consisting of fourteen learned brethren, was appointed 
to examine the book, and they, in the March communication of 
the subsequent year, having reported their approbation of it, it 
was, after some amendments, adopted by the Grand Lodge, and 
published in 1723, under the title of "the Book of Constitutions 
of the Freemasons, containing the History, Charges, Regula- 
tions, etc., of the Most Ancient and Eight Worshipful Fraternity. 
For the use of the lodges." 

In 1738, a second edition was published, under the superin- 
tendence of a committee of Grand officers. This was the last 
edition issued during the life-time of Dr. Anderson; but, in the 
year 1754, it was resolved "that the Book of Constitutions should 
be revised, and the necessary alterations and additions made, con- 
sistent with the laws and rules of masonry." Again, in 17G6, a 
similar revision took place, under the care of the Grand officers 
and twenty-one Masters of lodges; and the amendments having 
been unanimously approved by the Grand Lodge, in January, 
1767, the fourth edition was published. 

This book is carried in all processions before the Grand Master, 
on a velvet cushion, and the right of so carrying it is vested in 
the Master of the oldest lodge — a privilege which arose from the 
following circumstances. During the reign of Queen Anne, Free- 
masonry was in a languishing condition, in consequence of the 
age and infirmities of the Grand Master, Sir Christopher Wren. 
On his death, and the accession of George the First to the throne, 
the four old lodges then existing in London, determined to re- 
vive the Grand Lodge, which had for some years been dormant, 
and to renew the quarterly communications and the annua 1 feast. 



BOO 65 

This measure they accomplished, and resolved, among other 
things, that no lodge thereafter should he permitted to act, (the 
four old lodges excepted,) unless by authority of a charter granted 
by the Grand Master, with the approbation and consent of the 
Grand Lodge. In consequence of this, the old Masons in the 
metropolis vested all their inherent privileges as individuals in 
the four old lodges, in trust, that they would never suffer the 
ancient landmarks to be infringed; while, on their part, these 
bodies consented to extend their patronage to eveiy lodge which 
should thereafter be regularly constituted, and to admit their 
Masters and Wardens to share with them all the privileges of the 
Grand Lodge, that of precedence only excepted. The extension 
of the order, however, beginning to give to the new lodges a 
numerical superiority in the Grand Lodge, it was feared they 
would at length be able, by a majority, to subvert the privileges 
of the original Masons of England, which had been centied in the 
four old lodges. On this account, a code of articles was drawn 
up with the consent of all the brethren, for the future govern- 
ment of the society. To this was annexed a regulation, binding 
the Grand Master and his successors, and the Master of every 
newly constituted lodge, to preserve these regulations inviolable; 
and declaring that no new regulation could be proposed, except 
at the third quarterly communication, and requiring it to be 
publicly read at the annual feast to every brother, even to tl e 
youngest Apprentice, when the approbation of at least two-thirds 
of those present should be requisite to render it obligatory. To 
commemorate this circumstance, it has been customary for the 
Master of the oldest lodge to attend every grand installation, and 
taking precedence of all present, the Grand Master excepted, to 
deliver the Book of Constitutions to the newly installed Grand 
Master, on his promising obedience to the ancient charges and 
general regulations. 

This book, guarded by the Tiler's sword, constitutes an em- 
blem in the Master's degree, intended to admonish the Mason 

6* 



66 



BOO— BRE 



that he should be guarded in all his words and actions, preserving 
unsullied the masonic virtues of silence and circumspection which 
are inculcated in that book. 

BOOK OF THE LAW. The Holy Bible, which is always 
open in a lodge, as a symbol that its light should be diffused 
among the brethren. The passages on which it is opened differ 
in the different degrees. In this country these passages are as 
follows : in the first degree, at Psalm cxxxiii ; in the second, at 
Amos vii. 7, 8 ; in the third, at Ecclesiastes xii. 1-7. 



BBEAST PLATE. A piece of embroidery about ten inches 
square, worn by the Jewish High Priest on his breast, and at- 
tached by its upper corners to the shoulders, and by its lower to 
the girdle of the Ephod. It was made of the same rich em- 
broidered stuff of which the Ephod was. The front of it was set 
with twelve precious stones, on each of which was engraved the 
name of one of the twelve tribes. These stones were divided 
from each other by golden partitions, and set in four rows accord- 
ing to the following order. It must be remembered that they 
are to be read according to the Jewish system of writing, from 
right to left, commencing with the Sardius in the right hand 
upper corner 



Carbuncle, 
Levi. 


Topaz, 
* 

Simeon. 


Sardius, 
Reuben. 


Diamond, 

* 
Zebtjltjn. 


Sapphire, 
* 

ISSACHAR. 


Emerald, 

JUDAH. 


Amethyst, 
* 

Gad. 


Agate, 

* 

Naphtali. 


LiGURE, 

Dan. 


Jaspkr, 

* 

Benjamin. 


Onyx, 
* 

Joseph. 


Bkryl, 

* 

ASHER. 



BRE 



G7 



The colours of these stones have been described by Biblical 
naturalist? as follows : 

1. The Sardius, or ruby, was of a red colour, with an admix- 
ture of purple. 2. The Topaz, or modern chrysolite, was pale 
green, with an admixture of yellow. 3. The Carbuncle was a 
fiery red. 4. The Emerald was of a beautiful and pure green # 
5. The Sapphire, or modern lapis lazuli, was a deep blue, veined 
with white and spotted with small golden stars. 6. The Dia- 
mond is perfectly white. 7. The Ligure, or hyacinth, was of 
dull red, much mixed with yellow. 8. The Agate was of a grey 
horny ground, spotted with different colours, chiefly of a dusky 
hue. 9. The Amethyst was of a purple colour, composed of strong 
blue and deep red. 10. The Beryl, or modern aqua marina, was 
a pellucid gem of a bluish green. 11. The Onyx was of a bluish 
white colour, resembling the tint of the human nail. 12. The 
Jasper was of a beautiful green, sometimes clouded with white, 
red, or vbIIow. 

The following are the Hebraic characters in which the nam^s 
of the twelve tribes were engraved on these stones, in the same 
order in which they are arranged in the preceding diagram. 



>v? 


pj/OB> 


prfth 


pbs? 


-otw 


rmrv 


-u 


•brifij 


P 


|o^a 


C]DV 


nt?N 



The breast-plate was never to be separated from the priestly 
garments, and was called the "memorial," because it was de- 
signed to remind the High Priest how dear the tribes whose 



68 BRI-BRO 

names it bore should be to his heart. This ornament forms a 
a part of the vestments of the High Priest in a Royal Arch 
Chapter.* 

BRIGHT. A mason is said to be " bright" who is well ac- 
quainted with the ritual, the forms of opening and closing, and 
the ceremonies of initiation. This expression does not, however, 
in its technical sense, appear to include the superior knowledge 
of the history and science of the institution, and many bright 
masons are therefore not necessarily learned masons, and on the 
contrary some learned masons are not well versed in the exact 
phraseology of the ritual. The one knowledge depends on a re- 
tentive memory, the other is derived from deep research. 

BROACHED THURNEL. In the early part of the eigh- 
teenth century the Broached Thurnel was one of the immovable 
jewels of an Apprentices' lodge, the other two being the Tar- 
sel Board and the Rough Ashlar. Oliver is therefore incorrect 
in saying in his Dictionary, that " it was subsequently called the 
Rough Ashlar." It is said in the rituals of 1 730 to have been 
used " for the Entered Apprentice to learn to work upon." When 
discontinued, its place was supplied by the Perfect Ashlar. 

BROKEN COLUMN. Among the Hebrews, columns were 
used metaphorically, to signify princes or nobles, as if they were the 
pillars of a state. Thus, in Psalms xi. 3, the passage, reading in 
our translation, " if the foundations be destroyed, what can the 
righteous do ?" is in the original, " when the columns are over- 
thrown," i. e. when the firm supporters of what is right and good 
have perished. So the passage in Isaiah xix. 10, should read, 
"her (Egypt's) columns are broken down," that is, the nobles 
of her state. In Freemasonry, the broken column is, as Master 



* The judges in ancient Egypt wore breast-plates. For more on this sub- 
ject, see Urim and Thummim. 



BRO— BY 69 

Masons well know, the emblem of the fall of one of the chief 
supporters of the craft. 

BROTHER. The term which Freemasons apply to each 
other. Freemasons are brethren, not only by common participa- 
tion of the human nature, but as professing the same faith, as 
being jointly engaged in the same labours, and as being united 
by a mutual covenant or tie, whence they are also emphatically 
called " Brethren of the Mystic Tie/' 

BROTHERLY LOYE, RELIEF AND TRUTH. These 
words constitute the motto of our order, and the characteristics 
of our profession. They need no explanation, but they prove 
that a society which could adopt them, can be founded only on 
the principles of virtue. One of the ancient charges calls bro- 
therly love "the foundation and cape stone, the cement and glory 
of this ancient fraternity." 

BURNING BUSH. The burning bush, out of the midst of 
which the angel of the Lord appeared unto Moses at Mount 
Horeb, is referred to in the ceremonies of Royal Arch Masonry, 
because it was there that the Tetragrammaton was delivered to 
the Jewish lawgiver. This was, therefore, the great source of 
true masonic light, and hence Supreme Councils of the 83d de- 
gree date their protocols "near the B.\ B.\" or "Burning Bush, ,: 
to intimate that they are in their own rite the exclusive source 
of all masonic instruction. 

BY-LAWS. Every subordinate lodge is permitted to make 
its own by-laws, provided they do not conflict with the regula- 
tions of the Grand Lodge, nor with the ancient usages of the fra- 
ternity But of this, the Grand Lodge is the only judge, and 
therefore the original by-laws of every lodge, as well as all subse- 
quent alterations of them, must be submitted to the Grand Lodge 
for approval and confirmation before they can become valid. 



70 



CAB 



C. 



CoVBBALA. The Cabbala is that peculiar science or philoso- 
phy of the Jews which is occupied in the mystical interpretation 
of the Scriptures, and in metaphysical speculations concerning 
the Deity and the spiritual world. As much use is made of these 
cabbalistic speculations in the higher philosophical degrees of 
masonry, a brief description of the system will not perhaps be 
considered irrelevant to the objects of this work. 

The Cabbala is of two kinds : theoretical and practical. With 
the practical Cabbala, which is engaged in the construction of 
talismans and amulets, we have nothing to do. The. theoretical 
is divided into the literal and dogmatic. The dogmatic Cabbala 
is nothing more than the summary of the metaphysical doctrines 
taught by the Cabbalistic doctors. It is, in other words, the 
system of Jewish philosophy. The literal is a mystical mode of 
explaining sacred things by a peculiar use of the letters of words, 
and is the one which is connected with philosophical and ineffable 
masonry. 

There are three principal branches of the literal Cabbala, which 
are denominated Gematria, Notaricon, and Temura. 

1. Grematria is a mode of contemplating words according to the 
value of the letters of which they are composed. The Hebrews, 
iike other ancient nations, having no figures in their language, 
made use of the letters of their alphabet instead of numbers, each 
letter having a particular numerical value according to the following 
table : 



Aleph 

Beth 

Grimel 

Daleth 

He 

Vau 



Yod 

Caph 

Lamed 

Mem 

Nun 

Samech 



10 

20 
30 
40 
50 
60 



Koph p 100 

Resh -\ 200 

Shin jp 300 

Tail f| 400 

Final Caph *"[ 500 

Final Mem Q 600 



CAB 71 



Zain 


? 


7 


Ain 


]f 


70 


Final Nun ? 


700 


Cheth 


n 


8 


Pe 


£ 


80 


Final Pe f| 


800 


Teth 


ID 


9 


Tsaddi 


if 


90 


Final Tsaddi T> 


900 



Any two words, the letters of which have the same numerical 
value, are mutually convertible, and each is supposed to contain 
the latent signification of the other. Thus the words in Genesis 
xlix. 10, " Shiloh shall conie," are supposed to contain a prophecy 
of the Messiah, because the letters of " Shiloh shall corne," 
PO*^ ND* and of " Messiah," n*^D? both have the numerical 
value of 358, according to the above table. It was by Gematria, ap- 
plied to the Greek language, that we found in the article Abraxas 
in this work, the identity of Abraxas and Mithras. This is by 
far the most common mode of applying the Cabbala. 

2. Notaricon is a mode of constructing one word out of the 
initials or finals of many, or a sentence out of the letters of a 
word, each letter being used as the initial of another word. Thus 
of the sentence in Deuteronomy xxx. 12, "Who shall go up for 
us to heaven?" in Hebrew niD'JDtJTT *\$ l ? H^P* *D tne in itiaJ 
letters of each word are taken to form the word n^'£, "circum- 
cision," and the finals to form pnJ-p "Jehovah;" hence it is 
concluded that Jehovah hath shown circumcision to be the way 
to heaven. Again : th$ six letters of the first word in Genesis 
PVt^N"0 " m tne beginning," are made use of to foim the ini- 
tials of six words which constitute a sentence signifying that 
"In the beginning God saw that Israel would accept the law," 

mm Sans" iSnp'tr cvnbx rusn rrcrx'n 

3. Tew.ura is Cabbala by permutation of letters. Sometimes 
the letters of a word are transposed to form another word, making 
what is familiarly known as an anagram, or the letters of a word 
are changed for others according to certain fixed rules of alpha- 
betical permutation, the 1st letter being placed for the 22d, the 
2d for the 21st, the 3d for the 20th, and so on. It is in this 
way that Babel, ^33 is made out of Sheshach *!&'£', and hence 



72 CAB 

the Cabbalists say that when Jeremiah used the word Sheshach 
(xxv. 26) he referred to Babel. 

The principal sources of the Cabbala are the two Hebrew 
books Jesira and Zoliar. Much aid in the study may, however, 
be derived from Allen's " Modern Judaism/' from Munck's 
" Melanges de Philosophic Juives et Arabes," and from Franck'a 
" La Kabbale." 

CABIRI, MYSTERIES OF THE. The Cabiri were origi- 
nally Syrian or Phenician gods, and all that we know about them 
is to be found in a fragment of Sanconiathon, quoted by Euse- 
bius, which tells us that they were the children of Sydyk, (whom 
Faber* and some other authors suppose to be Noah,) and that 
they were the inventors of ship-building. In the time of Chronos 
(or Saturn) their descendants, while navigating the sea, ran 
aground on Mount Casius and there erected a temple. 

The worship of the Cabiri was first established in the island of 
Samothrace, where it may be supposed that these navigators first 
landed on passing from the continent. Here they founded the 
mysteries of the Cabiri, which were subsequently celebrated at 
Thebes and Lemnos, but more especially at Samothrace, whence 
tlu;y were sometimes called the Samothracian rites. The name 
of the Cabiri was derived originally from Phenicia, and the word 
signifies in that language powerful.^ There were four of these 
gods, Axieros, Axiokersos, Axiokersa, and Cadmillus.J The 
last had been slain by the three others, and his murder was com- 
memorated in the secret rites. The aspirant presented himself 



* Dissert, on the Mysteries of the Cabiri. Bishop Cumberland thinks Sydyk 
identical with Shera, a just man, in Hebrew, Sadek. 

f Compare the cognate Hebrew, faibir, " to be greater." 

$ Some authors suppose that these four gods refer to Noah and his three 
sons, saved in the ark, anl thus they connect the Samothracian rites with the 
Arkite worship. See Drummond's Origines, vol. ii. p. 130. The Scholiast on 
Apoll. Rhod. says their names were Ceres, Proserpine, and Bacchus. 



CAB 73 

crowned with an olive branch, and girded about the loins with a 
purple riband or apron. He was placed upon a throne, around 
which the priests and initiated performed sacred dances. Funeral 
rites were then enacted, in which the candidate represented Cad- 
roillus. The hierophants declared that the object of the mys- 
teries was, to make men just and virtuous. Candidates who had 
been guilty of any crime, were compelled to confess to a priest, 
who purified them. 

Many persons annually resorted to Samothrace to be initiated 
into the celebrated mysteries, among whom are mentioned Cad- 
mus, Orpheus, Hercules, and Ulysses. Jamblichus says, in his 
life of Pythagoras, that from those of Lemnos that sage derived 
much of his wisdom. The mysteries of the Cabiri were much 
respected among the common people, and great care was taken in 
their concealment. The priests were called Corybantes, and 
made use of a language peculiar to the rites.* 

There is much perplexity connected with this subject, but it is 
generally supposed that the mysteries were instituted in honour 
of Atys, the son of Cybele. According to Macrobius, Atys was 
one of the names of the sun; in confirmation of this, we know 
that the mysteries were celebrated at the vernal equinox. They 
lasted three days, during which they represented in the person 
of Atys, the enigmatical death of the sun in winter, and his re- 
generation in the spring. In all probability, in the initiation, 
the candidate passed through a drama, the subject of which waa 
the violent death of Atys. Candidates on their admission, under- 
went an examination respecting their previous life, and after 
being purified and initiated were presented with a purple girdle, 
which was worn like an apron around their bodies, as an amulet 
to preserve them against all dangers. 

* Larcher says that those who had been admitted to these mysteries, were 
highly esteemed, as they were supposed to have nothing to apprehend from 
tempests ; and Plutarc-h tells us, that they who learned the names of the Cabiri, 
pronounced them slowly, as an auiuJ it to avert calamity. 

7 



74 CAB— CAG 

The mysteries were in existence at Samothrace as late as the 
eighteenth year of the Christian era, at which time the Emperor 
G-ermanicus embarked for that island, to be initiated, but wan 
prevented from accomplishing his purpose by adverse winds. 

CABLE TOW. A properly constructed tracing board of t.ie 
Entered Apprentice is always enclosed within a cord or cable tow, 
having four tassels placed at the four angles, referring to the four 
cardinal virtues and their illustrated points, while the cable tow 
is emblematic of the cord or band of affection which should unite 
;he whole fraternity, as in Hosea xi. 4, "I drew them with cords 
of a man, with bands of love." But there is another and not 
figurative use of this implement, with which Masons are well ac- 
quainted. 

CAGLIOSTRO. Joseph Balsamo, Marquis of Pelligrini, more 
commonly known by the title which he assumed at Paris, of 
Count Cagliostro, was one of the most ingenious imposters that 
ever lived. He was the author of a work entitled "Maeonnerie 
Egyptienne," and the founder of a pseudo-masonic system, which 
he called the rite of Egyptian masonry. He established this rite, 
(the idea of whicli he had obtained from some manuscripts acci- 
dentally purchased at London,) at first, in Courland, in the year 
1779, whence he afterward introduced it into Germany, France, 
and England. For the purpose more speedily of captivating the 
credulous and the imaginative, he united with this form of nia- 
nonry, the visionary schemes of Alchemy, declaring that one of 
the objects of initiation was the possession of the philosopher's 
?tone and the elixir of immortality. 

Both men and women were admitted into the lodges of the 
Egyptian rite, though the ceremonies for each sex were slightly 
lifferent, and the lodges for their reception were entirely distinct. 
The system was called a hierarchy, and was divided into three 
degrees, Egyptian Apprentice, Egyptian Fellow-craft, and Egyptian 
Master. 



cal ra 

Cagliostro, after having been banished from France by the go- 
vernment, and compelled to fly from England by his creditors, 
was finally arrested at Rome by the Inquisition, in 1789, on a 
charge of practising the rites of Freemasonry, and condemned to 
perpetual imprisonment. He was never afterwards heard of, and 
is supposed to have died, or to have been put to death, during his 
incarceration. 

CALENDAR, MASONIC. Freemasons, in affixing dates to 
their official documents, never make use of the common calendar 
or vulgar era, but have one peculiar to themselves, which, how- 
ever, varies in the different rites. 

Masons of the York and French rites, that is to say, the 
Masons of England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, and 
America, date from the creation of the world, calling it " Anno 
Lucis," which they abbreviate A.-. L.\, signifying in the year 
of light. Thus with them the year 1850 is A.-. L.\ 5850. 
This they do, not because they believe Freemasonry to be coeval 
with the creation, but with a symbolic reference to the light of 
masonry. 

In the Scotch rite, the era also begins from the date of the 
creation, but Masons of that rite, using the Jewish chronology, 
would call the year 1850 A.-. M.\ or Anno Mundi (in the year 
of the world) 5610. They sometimes use the initials A.-. H.\, 
signifying Anno Hebraico, or, in the Hebrew year. They have 
also adopted the Hebrew months, and the year therefore ends 
with them on the 16th of September, the new year beginning ol 
the 17th of the same mouth, which is the first of Tisri. 

The Masons of the rite of Mizraim, which is practised in 
France, adopt the chronology of Archbishop Usher, and adding 
four years to the usual computation of the age of the world, would 
make the year 1850 A.-. L.\ 5851. 

Masons of the York rite begin the year on the first of January, 
but in the French rite it commences on the first of March, and 
instead of the months receiving their usual names, they are desig- 



76 CAL 

nated numerically, as first, second, third, &c. Thus the 1st Janu- 
ary, 1850, would be styled in a French masonic document, the 
" 1st day of the 11th masonic month, Anno Lucis, 5850." The 
French sometimes, instead of the initials A.-. L.\, use Uan 
de la V.-. L.\, or, Vraie Lumiere, that is, "Year of True 
Light." 

Koyal Arch Masons commence their era with the year in which 
Zerubbabel began to build the second temple, which was 530 
years before Christ. Their style for the year 1850 is, therefore, 
A.-. Inv.\, that is, Anno Inventionis, or, in the Year of the Dis- 
covery, 2380. 

Royal and Select Masters very often make use of the common 
masonic date, Anno Lucis, but properly they should date from 
the year in which Solomon's Temple was completed, and their 
Style would then be, Anno Depositionis, or in the Year of the 
Deposite, and they would date the year 1850 as 2850. 

Knights Templars use the era of the organization of their 
order in 1118. Their style for the year 1850 is A.-. O.*., Anno 
Ordinis, or, in the Year of the Order, 732. 

I subjoin, for the convenience of reference, the rules for dis- 
covering these different dates. 

1. To find the Ancient Craft date. Add 4000 to the vulgar 
era. Thus 1850 and 4000 are 5850. 

2. To find the date of the Scotch rite. Add 3760 to the vul- 
gar era. Thus 1850 and 3760 are 5610. After September add 
one year more. 

3. To find the date of Royal Arch Masonry. Add 530 to the 
vulgar era. Thus 530 and 1850 are 2380. 

4. To find the Royal and Select Masters' date. Add 1000 to 
the vulgar era. Thus 1000 and 1850 are 2850. 

5. To find the Knights Templar's date. Subtract 1118 from 
the vulgar era. Thus 1118 from 1850 is 732. 

The following will show, in one view, the date of the year 1850 
in all the branches of the order: 

Year of the Lord, A. D. 1850 — Vulgar era. 



CAN— CAP 77 

Year of the Light, A.-. L.\ 5850 — Ancient Craft Masonry. 
Year of the World, A.-. M.\ 5610 — Scotch rite. 
Year of the Discovery, A.-. I.-. 2880 — Royal Arch Masonry. 
Year of the Deposite, A.-. Dep.\ 2850 — Royal and Select 
Masters. 

Year of the Order, A.-. 0.-. 732— Knights Templars. 

CANDIDiVTE. In ancient Rome, he who sought office from 
the people wore a white shining robe of a peculiar construction, 
flowing open in front, so as to exhibit the wounds he had re- 
ceived in his breast. From the colour of his robe or toga Can- 
dida, he was called cand idatus, whence our English word candi- 
date. The derivation will serve to remind our brethren of the 
purity of conduct and character which should distinguish all 
those who are candidates for admission into our order. For the 
constitutional qualification of masonic candidates, see Admission. 

CAPE STONE. Properly Cope Stone, which see. 

CAPTAIN GENERAL. The third officer in a Command- 
ery of Knights Templars. He presides over the Commandery 
in the absence of his superiors, and is one of its representatives 
in the Grand Commandery. His duties are to see that the coun- 
cil chamber and asylum are duly prepared for the business of the 
meetings, and to communicate all orders issued by the Grand 
Council. His station is on the left of the Eminent Commander, 
and his jewel is a level surmounted by a cock, the 3n blem of 
courage. 

CAPTIVITY. Solomon having erected and dedicated a tem- 
ple to Jehovah, died in the year of the world 3029. His domi 
nions did not long retain their integrity, for during the reign of 
his son and successor, Rehoboam, ten of the tribes revolted 
against his authority; and thus the separate kingdoms of Judah 
and Israel were established, the temple remaining in the p 



78 CAR— CAT 

sion of the former. After a series of events unnecessary to be 
narrated here, the city of Jerusalem was attacked by Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and after a year's siege, was surrendered at midnight, in 
the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, to Nebuzaradan, the 
captain of Nebuchadnezzar's guards. Nebuzaradan, having rifled 
the temple of its sacred vessels and its two pillars at the entrance 
of the porch, set it and the city on fire, on the tenth day of the 
fifth month, corresponding to the latter part of July; and con- 
veyed those of the people who had escaped the sword, as captives 
to Babylon. Here they remained in servitude, until they were 
released by Cyrus, king of Persia, who, in the first year of his 
reign, published that famous decree which liberated the Hebrew 
captives, and permitted them to rebuild " the city and house of 
the Lord."* Many interesting circumstances in relation to this 
captivity, and its termination, are interspersed through some of 
the higher degrees, such as the Royal Arch, the Red Cross 
Knight, Knight of the East, and to parts of Jerusalem. 

CARDINAL VIRTUES. These are Prudence, Fortitude, 
Temperance, and Justice. They are dilated on in the first de- 
gree ; and the practice of them urged upon the candidate, by 
certain striking s'.lusions Prince of the ceremonies of initiation. 

CARPET. A painting or diagram, containing the emblems 
of a particular degree. The same as flooring or tracing board. 
It is called a carpet, because the larger ones used in a lodge are 
generally laid upon the ground for the purposes of instruction. 

CASSIA. Sometimes improperly used for Acacia. 

CATENARIAN ARCH. If a rope be suspended loosely by 
its two ends, the curve into which it falls is called a catenarian 



* Lightfoot says that the seventy years of the captivity began in the third 
year of Jehoiakim and terminated in the first year of Cyrus, which ho dates 
Anno Mundi 3470. Harmony of the F<mr Eoang. I Yoleg. # vii. 



CAU-CEP 79 

curve, and this inverted forms the catenarian arch, which is said 
to be strongest of all arches. As the form of a symbolic lodge 
is an oblong square, that of a Royal Arch Chapter, according to 
the English ritual is a catenarian arch. 

CAUTION. It was formerly the custom to bestow upon an 
Entered Apprentice, on his initiation, a new name which was 
"caution." The custom is now very generally discontinued, 
although the principle which it inculcated should never be for- 
gotten. 

CENTRE, OPENING ON THE. In the ritual of the Eng- 
lish lodges, it is usual for the W.\ M.\ when he has opened a 
lodge in the third degree, to declare it duly " opened on the cen- 
tre/' This practice is thus explained: "None but Masters' 
Lodges are so opened. Apprentice and Craft Lodges are mixed 
lodges, — the first including brethren of the three degrees — some 
higher and some lower in masonry than others, consequently 
there is not a masonic equality among them. The Master Mason 
i» under a stronger obligation to his brother of an equal degree, 
than to one of an inferior degree. On the contrary, in a lodge 
of Masters, all are equal, all stand upon the same level, all are 
equally near and equally distant to each other — as the central 
point of the circle is equally near and equally distant to its cir- 
cumference. Hence, we say a Master's lodge is opened on the 
centre " — Moore's Mag. v iii. p 356. An attempt has been 
made in the "Trestle Board," published under the sanction of 
the late Baltimore Masonic Convention, to introduce the custom 
into the American lodges. It has, however, been very gener- 
ally rejected. 

CEPHAS. A Syriac word signifying a rock or stone. In 
the degree of Royal Master, it is used in reference to the cubical 
stone of masonry. 



80 CER 

CERTIFICATE. A diploma issued by a Grand Lodge, or by 
a subordinate lodge under its authority, testifying that the holder 
thereof is a true and trusty brother, and recommending him to 
the hospitality of the fraternity abroad. The character of this 
instrument has sometimes been much misunderstoood. It is by 
no means intended to act as a voucher for the bearer, nor can it 
be allowed to supersede the necessity of a strict examination. 
A stranger, however, having been tried and proved by a more 
unerring standard, his certificate then properly comes in as an 
auxiliary testimonial, and will be permitted to afford good evi- 
dence of his correct standing in his lodge at borne ; for no body 
of Masons, true to the principles of their order, would grant 
sucb an instrument to an unworthy brother, or to one who, they 
feared, might make an improper use of it. But though the 
presence of a Grand Lodge's certificate be in general required as 
collateral evidence of worthiness to visit, or receive aid, its acci- 
dental absence, which may arise in various ways, as from fire, 
captivity, or shipwreck, should not debar a strange brother from 
the rights guaranteed to him by our institution, provided he can 
offer other evidence of his good character. The Grand Lodge of 
New York has, upon this subject, taken the proper stand in the 
following regulation : — " That no Mason be admitted to any 
subordinate lodge, under the jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge. 
or receive the charities of any lodge, unless he shall, on such 
application, exhibit a Grand Lodge Certificate, duly attested by 
the proper authorities, except he is known to the lo Ige to hr a 
worthy brother."* 

Since the publication of the first edition of this work, the Cer- 
tificate system has been warmly discussed by the Grand Lodges 
of the United States, and considerable opposition to it has been 
made by some of them on the ground that it is an innovation 
If it is an innovation, it certainly is not one of the present day, 
as we may learn from the Regulations made in General Assem- 

* Order of the Grand Lodge of New York, June 8, 1843. 



CHA 81 

bly of the Masons of England, on St. John the Evangelist's day, 
1663, during the Grand Mastership of the Earl of St. Albans, 
one of which reads as follows : 

" That no person hereafter who shall be accepted a Free-mason 
shall be admitted into any lodge or assembly, until he has brought 
a certificate of the time and place of his acceptation from the 
lodge that accepted him, unto the Master of that limit or division 
where such lodge is kept." 

CHAIN, MYSTIC. To form the mystic chain is for the 
brethren to make a circle, holding each other by the hands, as in 
surrounding a grave, &c. Each brother crosses his arms in front 
of his body, so as to give his right hand to his left hand neigh- 
bour, and his left hand to his right hand neighbour. The French 
call it cliaine d'uninn. 

CHALK, CHARCOAL AND CLAY. By these three sub- 
stances, are beautifully symbolized the three qualifications for the 
servitude of an Entered Apprentice. 

CHAMBER OF REFLECTION. In the French and Scotch 
rites, a small room adjoining the lodge, in which, preparatory to 
initiation, the candidate is enclosed for the purpose of indulging 
in those serious meditations which its sombre appearance, and the 
gloomy emblems with which it is furnished, are calculated to pro- 
duce. It is also used in the degree of Knight Templar for a 
similar purpose. 

CHANCELLOR. An officer in a Council of Knights of the 
Red Cross, corresponding in some respects to the Senior Warden 
\>f a symbolic lodge. 

CHAPITER. An ornamental finish to the top of a pillar. 

CHAPLAIN. The office of chaplain of a lodge is one which 



£2 CHA 

is not recognized in the ritual of this country, although often 
conferred by courtesy. 

CHAPTER. A convocation of Royal Arch Masons is called 
a Chapter. In England and Ireland, Royal Arch Masonry is con- 
nected with and under the government of the Grand Lodge j but in 
America and Scotland, the jurisdictions are separate.* Here, a 
Chapter of Royal Arch Masons is empowered to give the preparatory 
degrees of Mark, Past, and Most Excellent Master; although, of 
course,theChapter,when meeting in either of these degrees,is called 
a lodge. In some Chapters, the degrees of Royal and Select Master 
are also given as preparatory degrees; but in most of the States, the 
control of these is conferred upon separate bodies, called " Coun- 
cils of Royal and Select Masters." The presiding officers of a 
Chapter are the High Priest, King, and Scribe, who are, respect- 
ively, representatives of Joshua, Zerubbabel, and Haggai. In 
the English Chapters, these officers are generally styled either by 
the founders' names as above, or as 1st, 2d, and 3d Principals. 
Chapters of Royal Arch Masons in this country, are primarily 
under the jurisdiction of State Grand Chapters as lodges are 
under Grand Lodges; and secondly, under the General Grand 
Chapter of the United States, whose meetings are held triennially, 
and which exercises a general supervision over this branch of the 
the order, throughout the Union. The convocations of several of 
the ineffable degrees are also called Chapters. See Royal Arch. 

CHAPTER, GRAND. A Grand Chapter consists of the 
High Priests, Kings, and Scribes, for the time being, of the seve- 
ral Chapters under its jurisdiction, and of the Past Grand and 
Deputy Grand High Priests, Kings, and Scribes of the said 
Grand Chapter. Its organization differs from that of a Grand 
Lodge : Past High Priests not being eligible to a seat, after the 



* Formerly in this country, Chapters were chartered hyand under the o^n- 
trol of Grand Lodges. 



CHA 83 

expiration of their time of service, as Past Masters are in the 
Grand Lodge; unless they shall have served as Grand and 
Deputy Grand High Priests, Kings or Scribes. Grand Chapters 
have the sole government and superintendence, (under the Gene- 
ral Grand Chapter,) of the several Royal Arch Chapters, and 
Lodges of Most Excellent, Past and Mark Masters, within their 
several jurisdictions. 

Until the year 1797, there was no organization of Grand 
Chapters in the United States. Chapters were held under the 
authority of a Master's warrent, although the consent of a neigh- 
bouring Chapter was generally deemed expedient. But in 1797, 
delegates from several of the Chapters in the Northern States 
assembled at Boston, for the purpose of deliberating on the ex- 
pediency of organizing a Grand Chapter, for the government and 
regulation of the several Chapters within the said States. This 
Convention prepared an address to the Chapters in New York 
and New England, disclaiming the power of any Grand Lodge to 
exercise authority over Royal Arch Masons, and declaring it ex- 
pedient to establish a Grand Chapter. In consequence of this 
address, delegates from most of the States above mentioned, met 
at Hartford, in January, 1798, and organized a Grand Chapter, 
formed and adopted a constitution, and elected and installed their 
officers. This example was quickly followed by other parts of 
the Union j and Grand Chapters now exist in nearly all the 
States. 

CHAPTER, GENERAL GRAND. The General (hand 
Chapter of the United States was organized in 1806, and meets tri- 
ennially; it consists of the Grand and Deputy Grand High Priests, 
Kings, and Scribes, for the time being, of the several State Grand 
Chapters, and of the Past General Grand High Priests, Deputy 
General Grand High Priests, Kings, and Scribes of the said 
General Grand Chapter.* It exercises a general supervisory 



* By an amendment to the Constitution adopted in 1S53, Fast Genera] 
3 rand Officers are no longer ex officio members. 



84 CHA 

authority over the State Grand Chapters, and immediate juris- 
diction in all States or Territories where a State Grand Chapter 
has not been established. 

CHARGES. The fraternity had long been in possession of 
many records, containing the ancient regulations of the order; 
when, in 1722, the Duke of Montague being Grand Master of 
England, the Grand Lodge finding fault with their antiquated 
arrangement, it was directed that they should be collected, and 
after being properly digested, be annexed to the Book of Consti- 
tutions, then in course of publication under the superintendence 
of Brother James Anderson. This was accordingly done, and 
the document now to be found in all the Ahiman Rezons, under 
the title of "The old Charges of the Free and Accepted Masons," 
constitutes, by universal consent, a part of the fundamental law 
of our order. The charges are divided into six general heads of 
duty, as follows : 1. Concerning God and religion. 2. Of the 
civil magistrate, supreme and subordinate. 3." Of lodges. 4. Of 
Masters, Wardens, Fellows, and Apprentices. 5. Of the man- 
agement of the Craft in working. 6. Of behaviour under differ- 
ent circumstances, and in various conditions. These charges 
contain succinct directions for the proper discharge of a Mason's 
duties, in whatever position he may be placed ; and from them 
have been abridged, or by them suggested, all those well known 
directions found in our Monitors, which Masters are accustomed 
to read to candidates, on their reception into the different de- 
grees, and which have, therefore, also been denominated charges. 
The word, however, in strictness and to avoid confusion, ought 
to have been confined to the Old Charges above alluded to.* 

CHARITY. "Though I speak with the tongues of men and 



* I have omitted the republication of these charges in the present edition, 
since they have now become accessible to every Mason, by their insert! >n in 
several modern works on Freemasonry. 



CHA 85 

of angels, and have not charity, I become as sounding brass, or 
a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and 
understand all mysteries and knowledge, and have all faith so 
that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am no- 
thing." (1 Corinth, xiii. 1, 2.) Such was the language of an 
eminent apostle of the Christian church, and such is the senti- 
ment that constitutes the cementing bond of Freemasonry. 
Charity is the chief corner-stone of our temple, and upon it is to 
be erected a superstructure of all the other virtues, which make 
the good man and the good Mason. The charity, however, of 
which our order boasts, is not alone that sentiment of commisera- 
tion, which leads us to assist the poor with pecuniary donations. 
Like the virtue described by the apostle, already quoted, its ap- 
plication is more noble and more extensive. " It suffereth long 
and is kind." The true Mason will be slow to anger and easy to 
forgive. He will stay his falling brother by gentle admonition, 
and warn him with kindness, of approaching danger. He will 
not open his ear to his slanderers, and will close his lips against 
all reproach. His faults and his follies will be locked in his 
breast, and the prayer for mercy will ascend to Jehovah for his 
brother's sins. Nor will these sentiments of benevolence be con- 
fined to those who are bound to him, by ties of kindred or worldly 
friendship alone; but extending them throughout the globe, he 
will love and cherish all who sit beneath the broad canopy of our 
universal lodge. For it is the boast of our institution, that a 
Mason, destitute and worthy, may find in every clime * brothei, 
and in every land a home. 

CHARLES XII., ORDER OF. An order of knighthood 
instituted in 1811 by Charles XII., King of Sweden, and which 
was to be conferred only on the principal dignitaries of the ma- 
sonic institution in his dominions. In the manifesto establishing 
the order, the king says: — "To give to this society, (the masonic) 
\ proof of our gracious sentiments toward it, we will and ordain 
that its first dignitaries to the number which we may determine, 



86 CUE— CIII 

shall in future be decorated with the most intimate proof of our 
confidence, and which shall be for them a distinctive mark of the 
highest dignity." The number of knights are 27, all masons, 
and the King of Sweden is the perpetual Grand Master. 

CHERUBIM. The second order of the angelic hierarchy, 
the first being the seraphim. The two cherubim that overtopped 
the mercy-seat or covering of the ark, in the holy of holies, were 
placed there by Moses, in obedience to the orders of God : " And 
thou shalt make two cherubim of gold,^of beaten work shalt thou 
make them, in the two ends of the mercy-seat. And the cheru- 
bim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy- 
seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; 
toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubim be." 
(Exod. xxv., 17, 19.) It was between these cherubim, that the 
shekioah or divine presence rested, and from which issued ths 
Bathkol or voice of God. Of the form of these cherubim, we are 
ignorant; Josephus says, that they resembled no known creature, 
but that Moses made them in the form in which he saw them 
about the throne of God; others, deriving their ideas from what 
is said of them by Ezekiel, Isaiah, and St. John, describe them 
as having the face and breast of a man, the wings of an eagle, 
the belly of a lion, and the legs and feet of an ox, which three 
animals, with man, are the symbols of strength and wisdom. 

CHIEF OF THE TABERNACLE. The twenty-third de- 
gree in the Ancient Scotch Bite. It commemorates the institu- 
tion of the order of the priesthood in Aaron and his sons Eleazar 
and Ithamar. Its officers are three, a Sovereign Sacrificer and 
two High Priests, and the members of the "Hierarchy," as the 
lodge is styled, are called Levites. The apron is white, lined 
with deep scarlet and bordered with red, blue and purple riband. 
A gold chandelier of seven branches is painted on the centre, and 
a violet-coloured myrtle on the flap. The jewel, which is a thu- 
rible, is worn from a broad yellow, purple, blue and scarlet sash, 
from the left shoulder to the right hip. * 



CHI 87 

CHISEL. One of the working tools of a Mark Master, and 
emblematic of the effects of education on the human mind. For, 
as the artist, by the aid of this instrument, gives form and regu- 
larity to the shapeless mass of stone, so education, by cultivating 
the ideas and by polishing the rude thoughts, transforms the 
ignorant savage into the civilized being. The chisel is specu- 
latively to the Mark Master what the Ashlar is to the Entered 
Apprentice. 

In the English ritual, the chisel is one of the working tools of 
the Entered Apprentice, with the same emblematic signification 
as we give to it in the Mark Master's degree. 

CHIVALRY. Although Freemasonry and the institution of 
Chivalry are not identical, yet we are permitted, from a variety 
of considerations, to infer that the latter was a branch of the 
former. And even if we should not come to this conclusion, the 
close connection which, at the present day, exists between some 
of the orders of chivalry and the order of Freemasonry, will au- 
thorize us in devoting a few words to a brief examination of this 
venerable institution. 

The origin of chivalry is involved in very great obscurity 
Almost every author who has written on this subject, has adopted 
an hypothesis of his own. Some derive the inst tution from the 
equestrian order of ancient Rome, while others trace it to the 
tribes who, under the name of Northmen, about the ninh cen- 
tury, invaded the southern parts of Europe. Warburton ascribes 
the origin of chivalry to the Arabians; Pinkerton, Mallet and 
Percy, to the Scandinavians. Clavel derives it from the secret 
societies of the Persians, which were the remains of the mysteries 
of Mithras. 

Chivalry, like Freemasonry, was a ceremonial institution, and 
its ceremonies were highly symbolical in their character. It was 
divided into three degrees : that of Page, which might answer to 
our Apprentice; of Esquire, similar to our Fellow Craft; and of 
Knight, which was equivalent to our Master. The education of 



88 cm 

the page was conducted with the greatest care. He was confided 
to the charge of some noble dame, who inculcated an unlimited 
defereuet to the female sex, and taught bim to appreciate the 
duties and honours of the profession in which he was about to 
embark. When arrived at a proper age, which was generally 
that of fourteen, he was presented at the altar, where the priest, 
having consecrated a sword, suspended it from his shoulder, by 
which simple ceremony, he was advanced to the second degree 
of chivalry, and became an Esquire. From this time, he was 
attached to the person of a knight, and becoming the sharer of 
his toils and dangers, was still further instructed in his duties. 
Having served a probationary term in these subordinate degrees, 
he was, at length, if found worthy, promoted to the honour of 
knighthood, which was the third degree, and the one in which 
the knowledge of the mysteries was conferred. The day before 
the ceremony of installation, was passed by the novice in fasting, 
and the night in a church, prostrated at the foot of the altar, and 
in the midst of profound darkness. The next day he knelt be- 
fore the knight, who was to receive him, and took, between his 
hands, the solemn obligation, always to fly to the assistance of 
the oppressed, and to sacrifice himself for the honour and defence 
of the mysteries of chivalry. The knight then girded the candi- 
date with a sword, struck him on the neck with his own, whk'h 
act was called the accolade, kissed his cheeks and forehead, and 
gave him, with the open palm of his hand, a gentle slap, the last- 
he was ever to receive without resentment. He then arose, and 
was clothed with the various pieces of his armour, the emblematic 
sense of which was explained to him. 

The formulary of this part of the reception has been ' pre- 
served,* and furnishes abundant evidence of the symbolic cha- 
racter of the institution. The sword which he received was 
called " the arms of mercy," and he was told to conquer his ene- 
mies by mercy rather than by force of arms. Its blade was two- 

* La Roque, Traiti de la Noblesse. 



CIIR— CIR 89 

edged, to remind him that he must maintain chivalry and justice, 
and contend only for the support of these two chief pillars of the 
temple of honour. The lance represented Truth, because truth, 
like the lance, is straight. The coat of mail was the symbol of 
a fortress erected against vice, for, as castles are surrounded by 
walls and ditches, the coat of mail is closed in all its parts, and 
defends the knight against treason, disloyalty, pride, and every 
other evil passion. The rowels of the spur were given to urge 
the possessor on to deeds of honour and virtue. The shield, 
which he places betwixt himself and his enemy, was to remind 
him that the knight is as a shield interposed between the prince 
and the people, to preserve peace and tranquility. 

After the reception, the knight was exhibited with great pomp 
before the people. A banquet, followed by the bestowal of 
largesses and alms, concluded the ceremonies. The knights were 
in possession of signs of recognition known only to themselves,* 
and were also united by a system of mysteries, allusions to which 
will often be found in the allegories that we meet with in the 
romances of chivalry. The greater part of the stories of Turpin 
and the other old romancers is filled with astronomical allusions 
applied to Charlemagne, and indeed this prince and his twelve 
paladins ought, says Clavel, to be considered in these legend?, as 
the sun and the twelve genii or signs of the twelve palaces of the 
zodiac. 

CHRIST, ORDER OF. When the Knights Templars were 
overthrown throughout Europe, they were protected in Portugal, 
and converted by the sovereign into a new order, called the Order 
of Christ, and the secret part of the ritual was abolished. A 
masonic order of the same name was at one time established in 
Paris by a Portuguese. 

CIRCLE. See Point within a Circle. 



* Clavel Hist. Pitt, de la Franc-Ma on, p. 354. 
8* 



90 cm— CLA 

CIRCUMAMBULATION. Circumambulation, or a proces- 
sion around the altar, always formed a part of the ancient reli- 
gious ceremonies. In Greece, the priests and the people walked 
thrice round the altar during the sacrifice, and sung a sacred 
hymn. On these occasions, the procession moved according to 
the course of the sun, and a hymn is still preserved in the wri- 
tings of Callimachus, which was chanted by the priests of Apollo, 
at Delos, and the substance of which was, "we imitate the ex- 
ample of the sun and follow his benevolent course." The Druids 
used the same ceremonies, and always made three turns round 
the altar, accompanied by all the worshippers. In some parts 
of Britain, this practice continued to be observed for ages after 
the destruction of the Druidical religion, and Martin, in his De- 
scription of the Western Islands, written not a century ago, tells 
us that " in the Scottish isles the people never come to the an- 
cient sacrificing and fire-hallowing cairns, but they walk three 
times round them, from east to west, according to the course of 
the sun. This sanctified tour, or round by the south, is called 
Deiseal, from Deas or Deis, the right hand, and Soil or Sul, the 
sun; the right hand being ever next the heap or cairn." 

Oliver says that in levelling the foot-stone of the temple, King 
Solomon and the twelve tribes circumambulated Mount Moriah 
three times in jubilee procession. 

CIRCUMSPECTION. A necessary watchfulness s recom- 
mended to every man, but in a Mason it becomes a positive duty, 
and the neglect of it constitutes a heinous crime. On this sub 
jcct, the Old Charges are explicit. "You shall be cautious in 
your words and carriage, that the most penetrating stranger shall 
not be able to discover or find out what is not proper to be imi- 
tated ; and sometimes you shall divert a discourse and manage it 
prudently for the honour of the Worshipful Fraternity." — Old 
Charges, VI. 4. 

CLANDESTINE. Not legal. A body of Masons uniting in 



CLA— CLO 91 

a lodge without the consent of a Grand Lodge, or although origi- 
nally legally constituted, continuing to work after its charter has 
been revoked, is styled a " Clandestine Lodge," and its members 
are called " Clandestine Masons." With clandestine lodges or 
Masons, regular Masons are forbidden to associate, or converse on 
masonic subjects. 

CLAY GROUND. In the clay ground between Succoth and 
Zeredatha, Hiram Abif cast all the sacred vessels of the temple, as 
well as the pillars of the porch. This spot was about 35 miles 
in a north-east direction from Jerusalem, and it is supposed that 
Hiram selected it for his foundry, because the clay which abound- 
ed there was, by its great tenacity, peculiarly fitted for making 
moulds. The masonic tradition on this subject is sustained by 
the authority of Scripture. See 1 Kings vii. 42, and 2 Chron. 
iv. 17. 

CLEFTS OF THE ROCKS. The whole of Palestine is 
very mountainous, and these mountains abound in deep clefts or 
caves, which were anciently places of refuge to the inhabitants in 
time of war, and were often used as lurking places for robbers. 
It is, therefore, strictly in accordance with geographical truth 
that the statement, in relation to the concealment of certain per- 
sons in the clefts of the rocks, is made in the third degree. 

CLOSING-. The duty of closing the lodge is as imperative 
and the ceremony as solemn as that of opening, nor should it 
ever be omitted through negligence, nor hurried over with haste, 
but every thing should be performed with order and precision, so 
that no brother shall go away dissatisfied. From the very nature 
«f our constitution, a lodge cannot properly be adjourned. It 
must either be closed in due form, or the brethren called off to 
refreshment. But an adjournment on motion, as in other so- 
cieties, is unknown to our order. The Master can, alone, dismiss 
the brethren, and that dismission must take place after a settled 



92 CLO— COC 

usage. In Grand Lodges, which meet for several days succes- 
sively, the session is generally continued from day to day, by 
calling to refreshment at the termination of each day's sitting. 

CLOTHED. A Mason is said to be properly clothed when 
he wears white leather gloves, a white apron, and the jewel of 
his masonic rank. The gloves are now often, but improperly dis- 
pensed with, except on public occasions. This costume is of 
ancient date, for, in an indenture of covenants made in the reign 
of Henry the Sixth, of England, " between the church wardens 
of a parish in Suffolk and a company of Freemasons, the latter 
stipulate that each man should be provided with a pair of white 
gloves and a white apron, and that a lodge, properly tyled, 
should be erected at the expense of the parish, in which they 
were to carry on their works." — See Quarterly Review, Vol. 
XXIV. p. 146. 

CLOUDED CANOPY. See Covering. 

COCK. The ancients made the cock a symbol of courage, 
and consecrated him to Mars, Pallas and Bellona, deities of war. 
As an emblem of this quality, he is used in the jewel of the 
Captain General of an Encampment of Knights Templars. 

Rhigellini, however, gives a different explanation of this sym- 
bol. He says that the cock was the emblem of the sun and of life, 
and that as the ancient Christians allegorically deplored the death 
of the solar orb in Christ, the cock recalled its life and resurrection.* 
The cock, we know, was a symbol among the early Christians, and 
is repeatedly to be found on the tombs in the catacombs of Rome 
Hence, I am, on further reflection, induced to believe that we should 
give a Christian interpretation to the jewel of a Knight Templar 
as symbolic of the resurrection. 



* Magonnerie consideree romine le resultat des religions Egypti»nne, Jiuv« 
et Chretien n< , torn. ii. p. 67. 



COE— COL 93 

COERCION. Among the imperative requisites of a candidate 
for Freemasonry, is one that he should come of his free will and 
accord. Masons cannot, therefore, be too cautious how they act 
or speak before uninitiated persons who have expressed any de- 
sire of entering the order, lest this perfect freedom of their will 
be infringed. Coercion is entirely out of the question. Merce- 
nary or interested motives should be strenuously discouraged, and 
no other inducement used than that silent persuasion which arises 
from a candid exposition of the beauties and moral excellences of 
our institution. 

COFFIN. In the ancient mysteries, the aspirant could not 
claim a participation in the highest secrets until he had been 
placed in the Pastos, Bed or Coffin. The placing him in the 
coffin was called the symbolical death of the mysteries, and his 
deliverance was termed a raising from the dead. Hence arose a 
peculiarity in the Greek verb teleutao, which, in the active voice, 
signified "I die/' and in the middle voice, "I am initiated." 
"The mind," says an ancient writer, quoted by Stobaaus, "is 
affected in death just as it is in the initiation into the mysteries 
And word answers to word, as well as thing to thing; for rehurav 
is to die, and rehtffOat to be initiated." The coffin in masonry is 
an emblem of the Master's degree, but :ts explication is here in- 
communicable. 

COLLAR. An ornament worn around the neck by the officers 
of lodges, tc which is suspended a jewel indicative of the wearer's 
rank. The colour of the collar varies in the different grades ot 
masonry. That of a symbolic lodge is blue; of a Past Master, 
purple; of a Royal Arch Mason, scarlet; of a Secret Master, 
white bordered with black; of a Perfect Master, green, &c. 
These colours are not arbitrary, but are each accompanied with an 
emblematic meaning. 

COLLEGIA ARTIFICUM. Colleges of Artificers. See 
'Roman Colleges of Artificers. 



34 COL— COM 

COLOURS. Each grade of masonry is furnished with its 
emblematic colour. Colours have always been invested with 
mystic meanings. Thus, they are used as the distinguishing 
mark of different nations, as well as of different professions. 
"White has been considered as emblematic of joy, and is hence 
selected as the appropriate dress for bridal occasions. On the 
contrary, the sombre appearance of black has confined its use to 
seasons of grief and mourning. The heralds have adopted colours 
as a part of their highly symbolic science, and among them, 
every colour is the symbol of a particular virtue and quality of 
the mind. The three symbolic colours of the ancient Druids, 
appropriated to their three degrees, were Green, emblematic of 
Hope; Blue, of Truth; and White, of Light. The colours of 
Ancient York Masonry are blue, purple and scarlet. Besides 
these, the different degrees of chivalry, and of Scotch masonry, 
have their appropriate colours. The reader is referred to these 
colours under their appropriate names. 

COLUMN. A round pillar made to support as well as to 
adorn a building, whose construction varies in the different orders 
of architecture. See Broken Column. 

COMMANDER. The Commander is the presiding officer in 
a Commandery of Knights Templars. His style is Eminent, and 
the jewel of his office is a cross, from which issue rays of light. 

COMMANDERY. See Encampment. 

COMMANDERY, GRAND. See Encampment, Grand. 

COMMITTEE. The well-known regulation which fo-bids 
private committees in the lodge, that is, select conversations be- 
tween two or more members, in which the other members are not 
permitted to join, is derived from the Old Charges: "You are 



COM 95 

not permitted to hold private committees or separate conversa- 
tion, without leave from the Master, nor to talk of any thing im- 
pertinent or unseemly, nor to interrupt the Master or Wardens, 
or any brother speaking to the Master." — Old Charges, § VI. 1. 
But the use of the word committee in this sense is without 
the authority of good writers. 

COMMON GAVEL. See Gavel. 

COMMUNICATE. When the peculiar mysteries of a de- 
gree are bestowed upon a candidate by mere verbal description 
of the bestower, without his being made to pass through the con- 
stituted ceremonies, the degree is technically said to be comn\u~ 
nicatexl. This mode is, however, entirely confined to the Scotch 
rite. In York Masonry it is never permitted. 

COMMUNICATIONS. The meetings of Lodges are called 
Communications, and of Grand Lodges, Grand Communica- 
tions. 

COMPANION. A title bestowed by Koyal Arch Masons 
upon each other, and equivalent to the word brother in symbolic 
lodges. It refers, most probably, to the companionship in exile 
and captivity of the ancient Jews, from the destruction of the 
Temple by Nebuchadnezzar, to its restoration by Zerubabbel, 
under the auspices of Cyrus. 

COMPASSES. As in operative masonry, the compasses are 
used for the admeasurement of the architect's plans, and to en- 
able him to give those just proportions which will insure beauty 
as well as stability to his work ; so, in speculative masomy, ie 
this important implement symbolic of that even tenor of deport- 
ment, that true standard of rectitude which aloi.e can bestow 
happiness here and felicity hereafter. Hence are the compasses 



96 COM— CON 

the most prominent emblem of virtue,* the true and only measure 
of a Mason's life and conduct. As the Bible gives us light on 
our duties to God, and the square illustrates our duties to our 
neighbour and brother, so the compasses give that additional light 
which is to instruct us in the duty we owe to ourselves — the 
great imperative duty of circumscribing our passions, and keeping 
our desires within due bounds. "It is ordained/' says the philo- 
sophic Burke, "in the eternal constitution of things, that men 
of intemperate passions cannot be free; their passions forge their 
fetters." 

COMPOSITE. One of the five orders of architecture intro- 
duced by the Romans, and compounded of the other four, whence 
it derives its name. Although it combines strength with beauty, 
yet, as it is a comparatively modern invention, it is held in little 
esteem among Freemasons. 

CONSECRATION. When a new lodge is formed, it is ne- 
cessary that it should be hallowed or consecrated to the purposes 
of masonry. The ceremonies on this occasion vary in different 
countries. They are detailed in all the Monitors. 

CONSECRATION, ELEMENTS OF. The masonic elements 
of consecration are corn, wine, and oil, which are called the corn 
of nourishment, the wine of refreshment, and the oil of joy. They 
are emblematic of health, plenty, and peace. See Corn. 

CONSISTORY. The meetings of members of the 32d de- 
gree, or Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret, are called Consis- 
tories. Its officers are, a Thrice Illustrious Grand Commander, 
two Thrice Illustrious Lieutenant Grand Commanders, Grand 



* Those brethren who delight to trace our emblems to an astronomical 
origin, find, in the compasses, a symbol of the Sun, the circular pivot r pre*- 
tenting the body of the luminary, and the diverging legs his rays. 



CON— COP 97 

Orator, Grand Chancellor, Grand Treasurer, Grand Secretary, 
Grand Master Architect, Physician General, Keeper of the 
Seals, Grand Master of Ceremonies, Captain of the Guards, and 
Tyler. 

CONSISTORY, GRAND. The governing body in a State, 
of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, subject, however, to the su- 
perior jurisdiction of the Supreme Council of the Thirty-third. 
The members of the Grand Consistory are required to be in pos- 
session of the Thirty-second degree. 

CONSTANTINE. See Red Cross of Borne and Constantine. 

CONSTITUTION OF A LODGE. Any number of Master 
Masons, not less than seven, being desirous of forming a new 
lodge, having previously obtained a Dispensation from the Grand 
Master, must apply, by petition, to the Grand Lodge of the State 
in which they reside, praying for a Charter or Warrant of Con- 
stitution to enable them to assemble as a regular lodge. Their 
petition being favorably received, a warrant is immediately grant- 
ed, and the Grand Master appoints a day for its consecration and 
for the installation of its officers. In this consecration and instal- 
lation consists the constitution of a lodge, and when it is thus 
consecrated, and its officers are installed by the authority of the 
Grand Lodge, it is said to be legally constituted. 

CONSTITUTIONS. See Booh of Constitutions. 

CONVOCATION. The meetings of Chapters of Roya> Arch 
Masons are styled Convocations; those of Grand Chapters are 
Grand Convocations. 

COPESTONE * The topmost stone in a building; the >ast 



i: " In masonic language this word is usually but incorrectly pronounced 
capestone. Its derivation is from the Saxon cop, the head. 



98 C0K 



laid, as the foundation stone is the first. "To celebrate the -nj* 
stone," is to celebrate the completion of the edifice, a cnstom *)l 
observed by operative Masons. 

CORINTHIAN ORDER. This is the lightest and most 
ornamental of the pure orders, and possesses the highest degree 
of richness and detail that architecture attained under the Greeks 
Its capital is its great distinction, and is richly adorned with 
leaves of acanthus, olive, &c, and other ornaments. The column 
of Beauty which supports the lodge, is of the Corinthian order, 
<md its appropriate situation and symbolic officer arc in the H.-. 

COK^ . Corn, wine, and oil are the masonic elements of con- 
secration The adoption of these symbols is supported by the 
highest antiquity. Corn, wine, and oil were the most important 
productions of Eastern countries; they constituted the wealth of 
the people, and were esteemed as the supports of life and the 
means of refreshment. David enumerates them among the 
greatest blessings that we enjoy, and speaks of them as v>me 
that niaketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face 
shine, and bread which strengthened man's heart." Ps. civ. 14 
In devoting any thing to religious purposes, the anointing with 
oil was considered as a necessary part of the ceremony, a rite 
which has descended to Christian nations. The tabernacle in 
the wilderness, and all its holy vessels, were, by God's express 
command, anointed with oil; Aaron and his two sons were set 
apart for the priesthood with the same ceremony; and the pro- 
phets and kings of Israel were consecrated to their offices by the 
same rite. Hence, Freemasons' lodges, which are but temples to 
the Most High, are consecrated to the sacred purposes for which 
they were built, by strewing corn, wine, and oil upon the "lodye, 
the emblem of the Holy Ark. Thus docs this mystic ceremony 
instruct us to be nourished with the hidden manna of righteous 
ness, to be refreshed with the Word of the Lord, and to Tejoice 
with joy unspeakable in the riches of divine grace. " W here- 



COR 99 

fore, my brethren," says the venerable Harris, " wherefore do 
you carry corn, vrine, and oil, in your processions, but to remind 
you, that in the pilgrimage of human life, you are to impart a 
portion of your bread to feed the hungry, to send a cup of your 
nine to cheer the sorrowful, and to pour the hea.ing oil of your 
consolation into the wounds which sickness hath made in the 
bodies, or affliction rent in the hearts of your fellow-travellers ?" 
—Discourses, TV. 81. 

In processions, the corn alone is carried in a golden pitcher, 
the wine and oil are placed in silver vessels, and this is to remind 
us that the first, as a necessity and the " staff of life," is of more 
importance and more worthy of honoui than the others, which 
are but comforts. 

CORNER-STONE. The first stone, in the foundation of 
every magnificent building, is called the corner-stone, and is laid 
in the north-east, generally with solemn and appropriate ceremo- 
nies. To this stone, formerly, some secret influence was attributed. 
In Alet's Ritual, it is directed to be " solid, angular, of about a 
foot square, and laid in the north-east." Its position, as Oliver 
justly remarks, " accounts in a rational manner, for the general 
disposition of a newly initiated candidate, when enlightened but 
uninstructed, he is accounted to be in the most superficial part 
of masonry." — Signs and Symbols, p. 225. 

CORNUCOPIA. The horn of plenty. It is a symbol of 
abundance, and as such has been adopted as the jewel of the 
Stewards of a lodge, to remind them that it is their duty to see 
that the tables are properly furnished at refreshment, and that 
every brother is suitably provided for. 

CORYBANTES, MYSTERIES OF THE. Rites instituted 
in Phrygia, in honour of Atys, the lover of Cybele. The god- 
dess WW supposed first to bewail the death of her lover, and 
afterwards to rejoice for his restoration to life. The ceremonies 



100 COT— COV 

were a scenical representation of this alternate lamentation and 
rejoicing, and of the sufferings of Atys, who was placed in an 
ark or coffin during the mournful part of the orgies. 

COTYTTO, MYSTERIES OF. These mysteries were insti 
tuted in Thrace, and passed over into Greece and Rome, where 
they were known as the rites of the Bona Dea. They were cele- 
brated by females alone, and were conducted with so much 
secrecy that their ceremonies are entirely unknown. 

COUNCIL. In several of the higher degrees of masonry, the 
meetings are styled councils — as a council of Knights of the 
Red Cross, and of Princes of Jerusalem. A portion of the room 
in which a chapter of Royal Arch Masons or Knights of the 
Red Cross meets, is emphatically designated as the Grand 
Council. 

COUNCIL OF ROYAL AND SELECT MASTERS. Bodies 
in which the degrees of Royal and Select Masters are given. 
The names and number of the officers vary slightly in different 
councils. They are perhaps most properly, a Thrice Illustrious 
Grand Master, Illustrious Hiram of Tyre, Principal Conductor of 
the Works, Treasurer, Recorder, Captain of the Guards, Con- 
ductor of the Council, and Steward. Of these officers, the first 
three represent the three Grand Masters at the Temple. 

COUNCIL OF THE TRINITY. An independent masonio 
jurisdiction, in which are conferred the degrees of Knight of the 
Christian Mark, and Guard of the Conclave, Knight of the Holy 
Sepulchre, and the Holy and Thrice Illustrious Order of the 
Cross. They are conferred after the Encampment degrees. They 
are Christian degrees, and refer to the crucifixion. 

COVERING OF THE LODGE. Our ancient brethren me 1 . 
beneath no other covering than the cloudy canopy of heaven. 



COW— CRA 101 

The innumerable stars that decked its concave surface, were as 
living witnesses of the power and wisdom of Him, at whose 
Bacred name they were taught to bow ; and were nightly winning 
from the virtuous Mason, by their bright effulgence, the prayer 
of hope, and the hymn of praise. Our lodges still claim this 
noble roof, emblematically, as their only covering, which admon- 
ishes them with a " sic itur ad astra," to aspire from earth to 
heaven, and to seek there the rest from labour, and the reward 
of toil. 

COWAN. One of the profane. This purely masonic term is 
derived from the Greek kuo?i, a dog. In the early ages of the 
church, when the mysteries of religion were communicated only 
to initiates under the veil of secrecy, the infidels and unbaptized 
profane were called " dogs," a term probably suggested by such 
passages of Scripture as Matt. vii. 6, " Give not that which is 
holy to dogs," and Philip, iii. 2, "Beware of dogs, beware of 
evil workers, beware of the concision." Hence, as kuon, or dog, 
meant among the early fathers one who had not been initiated into 
the Christian mysteries, the term was borrowed by the Freema- 
sons, and in time corrupted into cowan. The attempt made by 
some anti-masonic writers to derive the word from the chovans 
of the French Revolution is absurd. The word was in use long 
before the French Revolution was even meditated. In the sec- 
ond edition of Anderson's " Constitutions" published in 1738, 
it occurs in the following passage at page 146 : " But Free and 
Accepted Masons shall not allow cowans to work with them, nor 
shall they be employed by cowans without an urgent necessity ; 
and even in that case they shall not teach cowans, but must 
have a separate communication." 

CRx\FT. The ordinary acceptation is a trade or mechanical 
art, and collectively, the persons practising it. Hence, u the 
Craft," in speculative masonry, signifies the whole body of Free- 
masons, wherever dispersed. 

9* 



102 CRA— CRO 

CRAFTED. A word sometimes colloquially used, instead of 
the lodge term " passed/' to designate the advancement of a can- 
didate to the second degree. 

CRAFTSMAN. A Mason. Not much used. 

CREATED. Knights of the Red Cross, Knights of Malta, 
and Knights Templars, when advanced to those degrees, are said 
to be " dubbed and created." 

CREED OF A MASON. The creed of a Mason is brief, un- 
entangled with scholastic subtleties, or with theological difficul- 
ties. It is a creed which demands and receives the universal 
consent of all men, which admits of no doubt, and defies schism. 
It is the belief in God, the supreme architect of heaven and 
earth ; the dispenser of all good gifts, and the judge of the quick 
and the dead. 

CROSS. The cross was an important emblem in the Pagan 
mysteries, and was used as an hieroglyphic of life. It is retained 
in one of its modifications, the triple tau, as an emblem of the 
R.\ A.-, degree, according to the English ritual, and is to be 
found plentifully dispersed through the symbols of the ineffable 
and philosophical degrees. As an emblem in the degrees of 
chivalry, it bears a strictly Christian allusion. But I do not re- 
cognize it as appertaining to symbolic masonry. See Triple Tau 

CROSS-LEGGED. It was an invariable custom in the Mid- 
dle Ages, in laying out the body of a Knight Templar after death, 
to cross one leg over the other; and in all the monuments of 
these knights now remaining in the various churches of Europe, 
there will always be found an image of the person buried, sculp- 
tured on the stone, lying on a bier in this cross-legged position. 



CRO— CRU 103 

Templars of the present day will readily connect this posture 
with an appropriate portion of the degree as now conferred. 

When, in the 16th century, a portion of the Knights Templars 
of Scotland united themselves with a masonic lodge at Sterling, 
they were commonly known by the name of the " cross-legged 
Masons." Oliver relates the fact, but assigns no plausible reason 
for the appellation. It was, I presume, given in allusion tc this 
funeral posture of the Templars, and a "cross-legged Mason" 
would, therefore, be synonymous with a masonic Knight Templar. 

CROW. An iron implement to raise weights. It is one of 
the working tools of a Royal Arch Mason. For its symbolic 
meaning, see Pickaxe. 

CROWN, PRINCESSES OF THE. Princesses tie la cou- 
ronne. A species of androgynous masonry, established at Sax 
ony, in 1770. — Clavel, Hist, de la Franc-Magon. 

CRUSADES. A few masonic writers have endeavoured to 
trace the introduction of masonry into Europe, to these wars. 
Those who entertain this opinion, suppose that the order was 
unknown in Christendom until it was brought there by the 
knights who had visited the Holy Land, and who, they contend, 
were instructed in its mysteries by the Jews of Palestine. But 
this theory is wholly untenable ; for the first crusade commenced 
in 1065; and we have the best evidence that a convention of 
Masons assembled at York, on the summons of Prince Edwin, as 
early as 926, or 189 years before a single knight had entered 
Asia. 

CRUX ANSATA. The crux ansata or cross, surmounted by a 
circle, thus, f~\ was, in the Egyptian mysteries, a symbol of 
eternal life. 



104 CUB 

CUBE. The cube is defined to be a regular solid body, con- 
sisting of six square and equal faces or sides, and the angles all 
right angles. In the double cube, four of the faces are oblong 
squares. The cube, from its perfect form, constitutes an impor- 
tant geometrical figure among Masons. The perfect Ashlar, it is 
supposed by some, should be of this figure, and the form of the 
lodge, taken in its height and depth, as well as its length and 
breadth, is a double cube, though in its superfices it constitutes 
only an oblong square. 

CUBICAL STONE. The cubical stone forms an important 
part of the ritual of the Royal Arch and Hose Croix, as well as 
some other of the high degrees. We have a masonic legend re- 
specting a cubical stone, on which the sacred name was inscribed 
in a mystical diagram. On this stone, Adam made his offerings 
to God. This stone is called " the masonic stone of foundation," 
and our traditions very minutely trace its history. When Jacob 
fled from Esau to his uncle Laban, in Mesopotamia, he carried 
this stone with him, and used it as his pillow on the occasion of 
his memorable dream, the foot of the ladder appearing to rest on 
the stone. It was subsequently taken by him into Egypt, and 
when the Israelites departed from that country, Moses conveyed 
away with his followers the stone of foundation, as a talisman, 
by which they were to be conducted into the promised land. In 
the battle with the Amalekites, he seated himself on this stone. 
Afterward this stone was deposited in a secret crypt of the tem- 
ple, in a manner well known to Select Masters, and there re- 
mained hidden until, at the rebuilding of the temple by Zerub- 
babel, it was discovered by three zealous sojourners, and made 
the corner-stone of the second temple.* 

• The stone pillar, anointed with oil, was a common patriarchal hieroglyphic, 
connected with the worship of the Supremo Being; and, as Faber remarks, a 
rude stone, anointed in the same way, was among the heathens one of the 
most ancient symbols of the Great Father. The cubical stone is, indeed, ai: 
important link, connecting the spurious and the true Freemasonry. 



CUB— DAR 105 

CUBIT. A measure of length, originally denoting the dis- 
tance from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger, or 
the fourth part of a well proportioned man's stature. The He- 
brew cubit, according to Bishop Cumberland, was twenty-one 
inches; but only eighteen according to other authorities. There 
were two kinds of cubits, the sacred and profane — the former 
equal to thirty-six, and the latter to eighteen inches. It is by 
the common cubit that the dimensions of the various parts of the 
temple are to be computed. 

CYRUS. Cyras king of Persia, was a great conqueror, and 
after having reduced nearly all Asia, he crossed the Euphrates, 
and laid siege to Babylon, which he took by diverting the course 
of the river which ran through it. The Jews, who had been 
carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, on the destruction of the temple, 
were then remaining as captives in Babylon. These Cyrus re- 
leased A. M. 3466, or, B. C. 538, and sent them back to Jeru- 
salem to rebuild the house of God, under the care of Joshua, 
Zerubbabel and Haggai. 



D. 

DARKNESS. Darkness among Freemasons is emblematical 
of ignorance ; for, as our science has technically been called " Lux," 
or light, the absence of light must be the absence of knowledge. 
Hence the rule, that the eye should not see, until the heart has 
conceived the true nature of those beauties which constitute the 
mysteries of our order. In the spurious Freemasonry of the 
ancient mysteries, the aspirant was always shrouded in darkness, 
as a preparatory step to the reception of the full light of know- 
ledge. .The time of this confinement in darkness and solitude, 
varied in the different mysteries. Among the Druids of Britain, 



l'VS BAT— DEA 

the period was nine days and nights; in the Grecian mysteries, 
it was three times nine days; while among the Persians, according 
to Porphyry, it was extended to the almost incredible period of 
fifty days of darkness, solitude and fasting. 

In the beginning, Light was esteemed above darkness, and 
the primitive Egyptians worshipped On, as their chief deity, 
under the character of eternal Light. But, as the learned Oliver 
observes, "this worship was soon debased by superstitious prac- 
tices." Darkness was then adored as the first born, as the pro- 
genitor of day, and the state of existence before creation. The 
apostrophe of Young to Night, embodies the feelings which gave 
origin to this debasing worship of darkness: 

"0 majestic night! 
Nature's great ancestor ! day's elder born ! 
And fated to survive the transient sun! 
By mortals and immortals seen with awe !" 

Freemasonry has restored Darkness to its proper place, as a 
Btate of preparation; the symbol of that antemundane chaos from 
whence light issued at the divine command; of the state of non- 
entity before birth, and of ignorance before the reception of know- 
ledge. Hence, in the ancient mysteries, the release of the aspirant 
from solitude and darkness was called the act of regeneration, and 
he was said to be born again, or to be raised from the dead. And 
in masonry, the darkness which envelopes the mind of the unini- 
tiated, being removed by the bright effulgence of masonic light, 
Masons are appropriately called "the sons of light." 

DATES. See Calendar, Masonic. 

DEACON. In every well regulated symbolic lodge, the two 
lowest of the internal officers are the Senior and Junior Deacons. 
The former is appointed by the Master, and the latter by the 
Senior Warden. It is to the Deacons that the introduction of 
visitors should be properly entrusted. Their duties comprehend 



DEC— DED 107 

also, a general surveillance over the security of the lodge, and 
they are the proxies of the officers by whom they are appointed. 
Hence their jewel, in allusion to the necessity of circumspection 
and justice, is a square and compasses. In the centre, the Senior 
Deacon wears a sun, and the Junior Deacon a moon, which serve 
lo distinguish their respective ranks. In the rite of Misraim, the 
deacons are called acolytes. 

The office of Deacons in Masonry appear to have been derived 
from the usages of the primitive church. In the Greek church, 
the deacons were always the Ttulwpui, pylori or doorkeepers, and 
in the Apostolical Constitutions the deacon was ordered to stand 
at the men's door, and the sub-deacon at the women's, to see that 
none came in or went out during the oblation.* 

DECLARATION OF CANDIDATES. See Questions to 
Candidates. 

DEDICATION. When a masonic hall has been erected, it is 
dedicated, with certain well known and impressive ceremonies, to 
Masonry, Virtue, and Universal Benevolence. 

Lodges, however, are differently dedicated. Anciently, they 
were dedicated to King Solomon, as the founder of ancient craft 
masonry, and the first Most Excellent Grand Master. Christian 
lodges are generally dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and St. 
John the Evangelist ; and in every well regulated lodge, there is 
exhibited a certain point within a circle, embordered by two per- 
pendicular lines, called the "lines parallel," which represent 
these two saints. In those English lodges which have adopted 
the union system of work, the dedication is to " God and his 
service," and the lines parallel represent Moses and Solomon 
This change was adopted by the Grand Lodge of England, in 
1813, to obviate the charge of sectarianism. I have, however, in 



* Const. Apost., lib. viii., Cap. ii 



108 DED 

another work, endeavoured to prove that to this charge we by no 
means render ourselves amenable by this dedication to the above 
saints, since it is made to them, not as Christians, but as eminent 
Masons; not as saints, but as pious and good men; not as teach- 
ers of a religious sect, but as bright exei plars of all tnose virtue? 
which Masons are taught to reverence and practice.* 

With respect to the original cause of this dedication, the 
English lodges have preserved a tradition-, which, as a matter of 
curiosity, may find a place in this work. I am indebted for it 
to Brother Moore's excellent Magazine, vol. ii., p. 263. 

" From the building of the first temple at Jerusalem, to the 
Babylonish captivity, Freemasons' lodges were dedicated to King 
Solomon ; from thence to the coming of the Messiah, they were 
dedicated to Zerubbabel, the builder of the second temple ; and 
from that time to the final destruction of the temple by Titus, in 
the reign of Vespasian, they were dedicated to St. John the 
Baptist; but owing to the many massacres and disorders which 
attended that memorable event, Freemasonry sunk very much 
into decay; many lodges were entirely broken up, and but few 
could meet in sufficient numbers to constitute their legality, and 
at a general meeting of the craft, held in the city of Benjamin, 
it was observed that the principal reason for the decline of ma- 
sonry was the want of a Grand Master to patronize it; they, 
therefore, deputed seven of their most eminent members to wait 
upon St. John the Evangelist, who was at that time Bishop of 
Ephesus, requesting him to take the office of Grand Master. He 
returned for answer, that though well stricken in years, (being 
upwards of ninety,) yet having been in the early part of his life 
initiated into masonry, he would take upon himself that office; 
he thereby completed by his learning, what the other St. John 
had completed by his zeal, and thus drew what Freemasons term 
a line parallel; ever since which Freemasons' lodges in all Christian 



* Se3 an article by the author on this subject, in Moore's Freemasons' Mag. 
F. iii. J 6. 



DED ICG 

countries have been dedicated both to St. John the Baptist, and 
St. John the Evangelist." 

But the task is not difficult to trace more philosophically, and, 
I believe, more correctly, the real origin of this custom. In the 
spurious masonry, so well known as the mysteries ol Pagan 
nations, we may find the most plausible reasons for the celebration 
of our festivals in June and December, and for the dedication of 
our lodges to St. John the Baptist, and St. John the Evangelist. 

The post-diluvians, according to the testimony of the Jewish 
writer, Maimoindes, the Magians of Persia, until their ritual was 
improved and purified by Zoroaster, and most probably the ancient 
Druids, introduced into their rites a great respect for, and even 
an adoration of the Sun, as the source of light and life, and fruition, 
and the visible representative of the invisible creative and pre- 
servative principle of nature. To such sects, the period when 
the sun reached his greatest northern and southern declination, 
by entering the zodiacal signs, Cancer and Capricorn, marked, as 
it would be, by the most evident effects on the seasons, and on 
the length of the days and nights, could not have passed unob- 
served ; but, on the contrary, must have occupied a distinguished 
place in their ritual. Now these important days fall respectively 
on the 21st of June and the 22d of December. 

In the spurious masonry of the ancients these days were, 
doubtless, celebrated as returning eras in the existence of the 
great source of light, and object of their worship. Our ancient 
brethren adopted the custom, abandoning, however, in deference 
to their own purer doctrines, the idolatrous principles which were 
connected with these dates, and confining their celebration exclu 
sively to their astronomical importance. But time passed on. 
Christianity came to mingle its rays with the light of masonry, 
and our Christian ancestors, finding that the church had appro- 
priated two days near these solstitial periods to the memory of 
two eminent saints, it was easy to incorporate these festivals, by 
the lapse of a few days, into the masonic calendar, and to adopt 
these worthies as patrons of our order. To this change, the 

10 



110 DED— DEG 

earlier Christian Masons were doubtless the more persuaded by the 
peculiar character of these saints. St. John the Baptist, by an- 
nouncing the approach of Christ, and by the mystic ablution to 
which he subjected his proselytes, and which was afterward 
adopted in the ceremony of initiation into Christianity, might weli 
be considered as the Grand Hierophant of the church, while the 
mysterious and emblematic nature of the Apocalypse assimilated 
the mode of teaching adopted by St. John the Evangelist to that 
practised by the fraternity. 

It is thus that I trace the present system of dedication, through 
these saints, to the heliacal worship of the ancients. 

Royal Arch Chapters are dedicated to Zerubbabel, Prince or 
Governor of Judah, and Encampments of Knights Tempkrs to 
St. John the Almoner. Mark lodges should be dedicated to 
Hiram the Builder; Past Masters' to the Sts. John, and Most 
Excellent Masters' to King Solomon. 

DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. The temple having 
been completed, Solomon dedicated it to Jehovah in the month 
Tizri, 2999 years after the creation, and 1005 before the advent 
of Christ. Masonic tradition tells us that he assembled the nine 
Deputy Grand Masters in the holy place from which all natural 
light had been carefully excluded, and which only received the 
artificial light which emanated from the east, west, and south, 
and there made the necessary arrangements,* after which he 
stood before the altar of the Lord, and offered up that beautiful 
invocation and prayer which is to be found in the 8th chapter of 
the 1st Book of Kings. 

DEGREES. Ancient Craft Masonry, or as it is called by the 
Grand Lodge of Scotland, u St John's Masonry," consists of but 
three degrees, Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master 
Mason. The degrees in all the rites vary in number and cha- 

* Oliver, Landmarks, i. 580. 



DEL— DEM 111 

racter, inasmuch as they are comparatively modern ; but they all 
commence with the three degrees of Ancient Graft Masonry. 

In all the Pagan mysteries, there were progressive degrees of 
initiation. In the mysteries of Hindostan, there were four de- 
grees; three in those of Greece; the same number among the 
Druids ; and two among the Mexicans. The object of these 
steps of probation was to test the character of the aspirant, and 
at the same time to prepare him by gradual revelations, for the 
important knowledge he was to receive at the final moment of his 
adoption. 

DELTA. A triangle. The name of a piece of furniture in 
an Encampment of Knights Templars, which, being of a trian- 
gular form, derives its name from the Greek letter A, delta. It 
is also the title given, in the French and Scotch rites, to the lumi- 
nous triangle which encloses the ineffable name. 

DEMIT. A Mason is said to demit from the order when he 
withdraws from all connection with it. It relieves the individual 
from all pecuniary contributions, and debars him from pecuniary 
relief, but it does not cancel his masonic obligations, nor exempt 
him from that wholesome control which the order exercises over 
the moral conduct of its members. In this respect the maxim is, 
once a Mason and always a Mason. 

A very inexcusable corruption of this word has lately sprung 
up in this country, and a few American Masons, in violation of 
all the rules of etymology, and the authority of all Masonic Writ- 
ers from Anderson to Oliver, are now attempting to introduce 
the word dimit. The meanings of the two words are, as well as 
their derivation, entirely different. To demit is from demittere, 
" to let go, or withdraw," just what the member does when he 
demits from the lodge. To dimit is from dimittere, (k to send 
away." A Mason may demit or withdraw from the lodge, for 
that is good English; but he cannot dimit or send away from the 
lodge, because that would bo nonsense, unless he sends something 



112 DEP— DES 

else away and stays himself. The word dimit was invented by 
somebody who was ignorant of the Latin language and did not 
know the force of the root from which the word is derived. It 
is found in Macoy's Cyclopedia, who derives it from dimitto, which 
he says means " to permit to go; " but unfortunately, dimitto has 
no such meaning in pure Latin. The word dimit should be 
carefully eschewed by all correct speakers and writers. A demit, 
which is wholly a technical word, is a certificate that the brother 
therein named has resigned his membership, and that, being in 
good standing, his resignation has been accepted. 

DEPUTY GRAND MASTER. The assistant, and in his 
absence, the representative of the Grand Master. He was form- 
erly appointed by his superior, but is now elected by the craft. 
While the Grand Master is present, the D.\ G.\ M.\ has neither 
duties nor powers ; these are exercised only in the absence of the 
presiding officer. 

DERMOTT, LAURENCE. He was at first the Grand Secre- 
tary and afterwards the Deputy Grand Master of that body of 
masons, who, in 1739, seceded from the Grand Lodge of England 
and called themselves " Ancient'York Masons," stigmatizing the 
regular masons as " moderns." In 1764, Dermott published the 
Book of Constitutions of his Grand Lodge under the title of 
''Ahiman Rezon; or a help to all that are or would be Free and 
Accepted Masons, containing the quintessence of all that has been 
published on the subject of Freemasonry." This work passed 
through several editions, the last of which was edited, in 1813, 
by Thomas Harper the Deputy Grand Master of the Ancient 
Masons, under the title of "The Constitutions of Freemasonry, 
or Ahiman Rezon." It is not, however, considered as any au- 
thority for masonic law. 

DESAGULIERS. John Theophilus Desaguliers, LL.D., 
F.R.S., and a distinguished writer and lecturer on experimental 



DEU— DIO 113 

philosophy, was the second Grand Master after the reorganization 
of Freemasonry in 1717. In 1720, he compiled, with Dr. An- 
derson, the earliest form of masonic lectures that are now extant, 
although the use of them has long since been abandoned for 
more modern and complete ones. He was born at Rochelle, in 
France, on the 12th March, 1683, and died at London in 1749. 

DEUS MEUMQUE JUS. God and my right. The motto 
of the 33d degree, Ancient and Accepted rite. 

DIONYSIAN ARCHITECTS. The priests of Bacchus, or, 
as the Greeks called him, Dionysus, having devoted themselves 
to architectural pursuits, established about 1000 years before the 
Christian era, a society or fraternity of builders in Asia Minor, 
which is styled by the ancient writers the Fraternity of Dionysian 
Architects. An account of this institution is given under the 
head of "Antiquities of Freemasonry." 

DIONYSIAN MYSTERIES. These mysteries were cele- 
brated throughout Greece and Asia Minor, but principally at 
Athens, where the years were numbered by them. They were 
instituted in honour of Bacchus, and were introduced into Greece 
from Egypt, which, as we shall have abundant occasion to see in 
the course of this work, was the parent of all the ancient rites. 
In the,>e mysteries, the murder of Bacchus by the Titans wan 
commemorated, in which legend he is evidently identified with 
the Egyptian Osir's, who was slain by his brother, Typhon. The 
aspirant in the ceremonies through which he passed, represented 
the murder of the god, and his restoration to life. 

The commencement of the mysteries, or what we might ma- 
sonic-ally call the opening of the lodge, was signalized by the con- 
secration of an egg, in allusion to the mundane egg from which 
all things were supposed to have sprung. The candidate having 
been first purified by water, and crowned with a Diyrtle branch, 
was introduced into the vestibule, and there clothed in the sacred 

10* 



114 DIO 

habilaments. He was then delivered to the conductor, who, after 
the mystic warning, e/.o.q, sxac, eaze fiepykoc, "Depart hence, all 
ye profane!" exhorted the candidate to exert all his fortitude and 
courage in the dangers and trials through which he was about to 
pass. He was then led through a series of dark caverns, a part 
of the ceremonies which Stobseus calls "a rude and fearful march 
through night and darkness." During this passage he is terrified 
by the howling of wild beasts, and other fearful noises; artificial 
thunder reverberates through the subterranean apartments, and 
transient flashes of lightning reveal monstrous apparitions to his 
sight. In this state of darkness and terror he is kept for three 
days and nights, after which he commences the aphanism or mys- 
tical death of Bacchus. He is now placed on the pastos or couch, 
that is, he is confined in a solitary cell, where he is at liberty to 
reflect seriously on the nature of the undertaking in which he is 
engaged. During this time, he is alarmed with the sudden crash 
of waters, which is intended to represent the deluge. Typhon, 
searching for Osiris, or Bacchus, for they are here identical, dis- 
covers the ark in which he had been secreted, and tearing it 
violently asunder, scatters the limbs of his victim upon the 
waters. The aspirant now hears the lamentations which are in- 
stituted for the death of the god. Then commences the search 
of Rhea for the remains of Bacchus. The apartments are filled 
with shrieks and groans; the initiated mingle with their howling? 
of despair, the frantic dances of the Corybantes ; every thing is* 
a scene of distraction and lewdness; until, at a signal from the 
hierophant, the whole drama changes; the mourning is turned 
to joy; the mangled body is found; and the aspirant is released 
from his confinement, amid the shouts of Eupyzajiev, Euy/aipo/j.ev, 
"we have found it, let us rejoice together." The candidate is 
now made to descend into the infernal regions, where he sees the 
torments of the wicked, and the rewards of the virtuous. It 
was now that he received the lecture explanatory of the rites, 
and was invested with the tokens which served the initiated as a 
means of recognition. He then underwent a lustration, after 



DIS 115 

which he was introduced into the holy place, where he received 
the name of Epopt, and was fully instructed in the doctrine of 
the mysteries, which consisted in a belief in the existence of one 
God, and a future state of rewards and punishments. These 
doctrines were inculcated by a variety of significant symbols. 
After the performance of these ceremonies, the aspirant was dis- 
missed, and the rites concluded with the pronunciation of the 
mystic words Konx Ompax, an attempted explanation of which 
will be found under the head of Eleusinian mysteries. 

DISCALCEATION. The ceremony of taking off the shoes, 
as a token of respect, whenever we are on or about to approach 
holy ground. It is referred to in Exodus, (iii. 5,) where the 
angel of the Lord, at the burning bush, exclaims to Moses: 
"Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for 
the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." It is again 
mentioned in Joshua, (v. 15) in the following words : " And the 
captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe 
from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy.'' 
And lastly, it is alluded to in the injunction given in Ecclesiastes, 
(v. 1) " Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God." 

The rUe, in fact, always was, and still is, used among the Jews 
anu other Oriental nations, when entering their temples and 
other sacred edifices. It does not seem to have been derived 
from the command given to Moses ; but rather to have existed ag 
a religious custom from time immemorial, and to have been bor- 
rowed, as Mede supposes, by the Gentiles, through tradition, 
from the patriarchs. 

The direction of Pythagoras to his disciples, was in these 
words: Aw-odr/Toq 60s xal npbazuvet — that is, "Offer sacrifice and 
worship with thy shoes off." 

Justin Martyr says that those who came to worship in the 
sanctuaries and temples of the Gentiles, were commanded by 
their priests to put off their shoes. 

Drusius, in his Notes on the Book of Joshua, says that among 



116 DIS 

most of the Eastern nations it was a pious duty to tread the 
pavement of the temple with unshod feet.* 

Maimonides, the great expounder of the Jewish law, asserts 
that " it was not lawful for a man to come into the mountain of 
God's house with his shoes on his feet, or with his staff, or in his • 
working garments, or with dust on his feet."f 

Rabbi Solomon, commenting on the command in Leviticus 
xix. 30, "Ye shall reverence my sanctuary," makes the same re- 
mark in relation to this custom. On this subject Dr. Oliver ob- 
serves : " Now the act of going with naked feet was always con- 
sidered a token of humility and reverence; and the priests, in 
temple worship, always officiated with feet uncovered, although 
it was frequently injurious to their health. "J 

Mede quotes Zago Zaba, an Ethiopean Bishop, who was am- 
bassador from David, King of Abyssinia, to John III., of Portu- 
gal, as saying: "We are not permitted to enter the church, ex- 
cept barefooted."§ 

The Mahommedans, when about to perform their devotions, 
always leave their slippers at the door of the mosque. The 
Druids practised the same custom whenever they celebrated their 
sacred rites ; and the ancient Peruvians are said always to have 
left their shoes at the porch, when they entered the magnificent 
temple consecrated to the worship of the Sun. 

Adam Clarke thinks that the custom of worshipping the Deity 
barefooted, was so general among all nations of antiquity, that 
he assigns it as one of his thirteen proofs that the whole human 
race have been derived from one family. 

Finally, Bishop Patrick, speaking of the origin of this rite, 
says in his commentaries: "Moses did not give the first begin- 
ning to this rite, but it was derived from the patriarchs before 

* Quod etiam nunc apud plerasque orientis nationes piaculum sit, calccato 
pede teinrlorum pavimenta calcasse. 
f Beth Habbechirah, c. 7. 
J Historical Landmark?, vol. ii. p. 481. 
§ Non datur nobis potcstas adcundi tcmplum nisi nudibus pedibuB. 



DIS 117 

him, and transmitted to future times from that ancient, general 
tradition j for we find no command in the law of Moses for the 
priests performing the service of the temple without shoes, but 
it is certain they did so from immemorial custom • and so do the 
Mohammedans and other nations at this day." 

DISCOVERY. "Anno inventionis," or "in the year of the 
discovery/' is the style assumed by Royal Arch Masons, in com- 
memoration of an event which took place soon after the com- 
mencement of the rebuilding of the Temple by Zerubbabel. 
See Calendar, Masonic. 

DISPENSATION. A permission to do that which, without 
such permission, is forbidden by the constitutions and usages of 
the order. The power of granting Dispensations is confided to 
the Grand Master, or his representative, but should not be exer- 
cised except on extraordinary occasions, or for excellent reasons. 
The dispensing power is confined to only four circumstances. 
1. A lodge cannot be opened and held, unless a Warrant of Con- 
stitution be first granted by the Grand Lodge ; but the Grand 
Master may issue his Dispensation, empowering a constitutional 
number of brethren to open and hold a lodge until the next com- 
munication of the Grand Lodge- At this communication, the 
Dispensation of the Grand Master is either revoked or confirmed. 
<\ lodge under Dispensation, is not permitted, to be represented, 
nor to vote in the Grand Lodge. 2. Not more than five candi- 
dates can be made at the same communication of a lodge ; but the 
Grand Master, on the showing of suflicient cause, may extend to 
a lodge the privilege of making as many more as he may think 
proper. 3. No brother can at the same time belong to two 
lodges, within three miles of each, other. But the Grand. Master 
may dispense with this regulation also. 4. Every lodge must 
elect and install its officers on the constitutional night, which, in 
most masonic jurisdictions, precedes the anniversary of St. John 
the Evangelist. Should it, however, neglect this duty, or should 
any officer die, or be expelled, or remove permanently, no subse- 



118 DIS— DRE 

quent election or installation can take place, except under dis- 
pensation of the Grand Master. 

DISTRICT DEPUTY GRAND MASTER. An officer ap- 
pointed to inspect old lodges, consecrate new ones, install their 
officers, and exercise a general supervision over the fraternity in 
districts where, from the extent of the jurisdiction, the Grand 
Master or his Deputy cannot conveniently attend in person. He 
is considered as a Grand Officer, and as the representative of the 
Grand Lodge in the district in which he resides. In the Eng- 
lish Grand Lodge, officers of this description are called Provin- 
cial Grand Masters. 

DORIC ORDER. The oldest and most original of the three 
Grecian orders. It is remarkable for robust solidity in the column, 
for massive grandeur in the entablature, and for harmonious sim- 
plicity in its construction. The distinguishing characteristic of 
this order, is the want of a base. The flutings are few, large, 
and very little concave. The capital has no astragal, but only 
one or more fillets, which separate the flutings from the torus.* 
The column of strength which supports the lodge, is of the Doric 
order, and its appropriate situation and symbolic officer are in 
the W.-. 

DOVE, KNIGHTS AND LADIES OF THE. Chcvalien 
et Chevalieres de la Colombe. A secret society framed on the 
model of Freemasonry, to which women were admitted; it was 
instituted at Versailles, in 1784, but it is now extinct. 

DRESS OF A MASON. Oliver saysf that "the ancient 
symbolical dress of a Master Mason was a yellow jacket and blue 
breeches, alluding to the brass compasses with steel points, which 
were assigned to the Master, or Grand Ma3ter, as governor of the 
craft. But the real dress was a plain black coat and breeches, 



• Stuart, Diet, of Architecture. 
f Landmarks, vol. i. p. 169. 



DRU 119 

with white waistcoat, stockings, aprons and gloves." In this 
country the masonic costume is a full suit of black, with white 
stockings where shoes are worn, and white leather aprons and 
gloves. The earliest code of lectures known in England described 
the symbolic clothing of a Master Mason as " a skull cap and 
jacket yellow, and nether garments blue." 

DRUIDS. The Druidical rites were practised in Britain and 
Gaul, though they were brought to a much greater state of per- 
fection in the former country, where the isle of Anglesea was con- 
sidered as their chief seat. The word Druid has been supposed 
to be derived from the Greek Apoq, or rather the Celtic Denv, an 
oak, which tree was peculiarly sacred among them ; but I am 
inclined to seek its etymology in the Gaelic word Druidh, which 
signifies a wise man or a magician. The druidical ceremonies of 
initiation, according to Oliver, " bore an undoubted reference to 
the salvation of Noah and his seven companions in the ark." 
Indeed, all the ancient mysteries appear to have been arkite in 
their general character. Their places of initiation were of 
various forms ; circular, because a circle was an emblem of the 
universe ; or oval, in allusion to the mundane egg, from which, 
according to the Egyptians, our first parents issued ) or serpen- 
tine, because a serpent was the symbol of Hu, the druidical Noah; 
or winged, to represent the motion of the Divine Spirit ; or cru- 
3iform because a cross was the emblem of regeneraion.* Their 
only covering was the clouded canopy, because they deemed it 
absurd to confine the Omnipotent beneath a roof,f and they were 

* The cross, as an emblem of regeneration, was first adopted by the Egyp- 
tians, who expressed the several increases of the Nile, (by whose fertilizing in- 
undations their soil was regenerated,) by a column marked with several crosses. 
They hung it as a talisman around the necks of their children and sick peo- 
people. It was sometimes represented in an abridged form, by the letter T. — 
Pluche, Hi-stone dit Ciel. 

f It was an article in the druidical creed, that it was unlawful to build tern 
pies to the gods; or to worship them within walls or under roofs." — Dr. Hen- 
ry's Hiat. Eng. 



120 DRU 

constructed of embankments of earth, and of unhewn stones, 
unpolluted with a metal tool. No one was permitted to enter 
their sacred retreats, unless he bore a chain. The chief priest or 
hierophant, was called the Archdruid. Their grand periods cf 
initiation were quarterly, takiug place on the days when the sun 
reached his equinoctial and solstitial points, which at that remote 
period were the 13th of February, the 1st of May, the 19th of 
August, and the 1st of November. The principal of these was 
the 1st of May, (which, according to Mr. Higgins,* was the fes- 
tival of the Sun entering into Taurus,) and the May-day celebra- 
tion which still exists among us, is a remnant of the druidical 
rites. It was not lawful to commit their ceremonies or doctrines 
to writing, as we learn from Caesar fi and hence the ancient 
Greek and Roman writers have been enabled to give us but little 
information on this subject. 

The institution was divided into three degrees or classes, the 
lowest being the Bards; the second the Fa ids, or Votes, and 
the highest the Druids. J Much mental preparation and physical 
purification were used previously to admission into the first de- 
gree. The aspirant was clothed with the three sacred colours, 
white, blue, and green ; white as the symbol of Light, blue of 
Truth, and green of Hope. When the rites of initiation were 
passed, the tri-coloured robe was changed for one of green ; in 
the second degree, the candidate was clothed in blue, and having 
surmounted all the dangers of the third, and arrived at the sum- 
mit of perfection, he received the red tiara and flowing mantle 
of purest white. The ceremonies were numerous, the physical 
proofs painful, and the mental trials appalling. They commenced 
in the first degree, with placing the aspirant in the pastos, bed, 
or coffin, where his symbolical death was represented, and they 
terminated in the third, by his regeneration or restoration to life 

* Higgins' Celtic Druids, p. 149. The astronomic relations of this day 
have been altered by the procession of the equinox. 

f "Neque fa? esse existimant, ea literis niandare." — Bell. Gall. vi. 13. 
X See Strabo, lib. iv, and Ammian. Marcellinus, lib. xv. 



DUE— DUN 121 

from the womb of the giantess Ceridwin ; and the committal of the 
body of the newly born to the waves in a small boat, symbolical 
of the ark. The result was, generally, that he succeeded in 
reaching the safe landing-place that represented Mount Ararat, 
but if his arm was weak, or his heart failed, death was the almost 
inevitable consequence. If he refused the trial, through timidity, 
he was contemptuously rejected, and declared forever ineligible to 
participate in the sacred rites. But if he undertook it and suc- 
ceeded, he was joyously invested with all the privileges of druidism. 

The doctrines of the Druids were the same as those entertained 
by Pythagoras. They taught the existence of one Supreme Being ; 
a future state of rewards and punishments; the immortality of the 
soul, and a metempsychosis;* and the object of their mystic rites 
was to communicate these doctrines in symbolic language. 

With respect to the origin of the Druids, the most plausible 
theory seems to be that of Mr. Higgins, that the Celts, who prac- 
tised the rites of Druidism, "first came from the east of the 
Caspian sea, bringing with them their seventeen letters, their 
festivals, and their gods." Without such a theory as this, we 
shall be unable to account for the analogy which existed between 
the rites of druidism and those of the other pagan mysteries, the 
latter of whom undoubtedly derived their origin from the mysteries 
of ancient India through those of Egypt. 

DUE FORM. See Ample Form. 

DUE GUARD. We are by this ceremony strongly reminded 
of the time and manner of taking our solemn vows of duty, and 
hence are duly guarded against any violation of our sacred 
promises as initiated members of a great moral and social insti- 
tution. 

DUNCKERLEY, THOMAS, called by Oliver " the most emi- 



* Caesar says of them : "In primis hoc volunt persuadere, non interire am- 
inos, sed ab aliis post mortem ad alios transire putant." — Bell. Gall., 1. vi. 

11 



122 E AG— EAR 

nent Mason of the age." Dunckerley acted an important part in 
the transactions of English Masonry from the middle to near the 
end of the eighteenth century. He held many offices, among 
others that of a Provincial Grand Master; and being a man of 
education and ability, thoroughly conversant with scientific and 
philosophical studies, he exercised much influence over the craft, 
modifying and improving the system of lectures which had been 
established by Martin Clare. He was a natural son of George 
the Second, and so recognized by the royal family. He was 
born in 1724, and died in 1795, aged 71 years. 



E. 

EAGLE, DOUBLE HEADED. The double headed eagle 
is the ensign of the kingdom of Prussia, and as Frederick II. 
was the founder and chief of the 83d or ultimate degree of the 
Scotch or Ancient and Accepted rite, as it is now called, the 
double headed eagle has been adopted as the emblem or jewel of 
that degree, to denote its Prussian origin. 

EAR OF CORN. This was, among all the ancients, an em 
blem of plenty. Ceres, who was universally worshipped as tht 
goddess of abundance, and even called by the Greeks, Demeter, 
a manifest corruption of Gemetcr, or mother earth, was symboli- 
cally represented with a garland on her head composed of ears of 
corn, a lighted torch in one hand, and a cluster of poppies and 
ears of corn in the other. And in the Hebrew, the most signifi- 
cant of all languages, the two words which signify an ear of corn, 
are both derived from roots which give the idea of abun- 
dance. For shihholeth, which is applicable both to an ear of 
corn and a flood of water, has its root in shabal, to increase or 
to flow abundantly ; and the other name of corn, dagan, is do- 



EAS 323 

rived from the verb, dagah, signifying to multiply or to be in- 
creased. 

EAST. The East has always been considered peculiarly sacred. 
This was, without exception, the case in all the ancient mysteries. 
In the Egyptian rites, especially, and those of Adonis, which were 
among the earliest, and from whicb the others derived their ex- 
istence, the Sun was the object of adoration, and his revolutions 
through the various seasons were fictitiously represented. The 
spot, therefore, where this luminary made his appearance at the 
commencement of day, and where his worshippers were wont, 
anxiously, to look for the first darting of his prolific rays, was 
esteemed as the figurative birthplace of their god, and honoured 
with an appropriate degree of reverence. And even among those 
nations where Sun-worship gave place to more enlightened doc- 
trines, the respect for the place of Sun-rising continued to exist. 
Our Jewish brethren retained it, and handed it down to their 
Christian successors. The camp of Juclah was placed by Moses 
in the East as a mark of distinction; the tabernacle in the wilder- 
ness was placed due East and West; and the practice was con- 
tinued in the erection of Christian churches. Hence, too, the 
primitive Christians always turned towards the East in their 
public prayers, which custom St. Augustine accounts for, "be- 
cause the East is the "most honourable part of the world, being 
the region of light whence the glorious sun arises."* And hence 
all masonic lodges, like their great prototype, the Temple of Je- 
rusalem, are built, or supposed to be built, due East and West, 
and as the North is esteemed a place of darkness, the East, on 
the contrary, is considered a place of light.")" 

* St. August, de Serm. Dom. in Monte, c. 5. 

■f In the primitive Christian Church, according to St. Ambrose, in the cere 
monies accompanying the baptism of a catechumen, "he turned towards the 
West, the image of darkness, to abjure the world, and towards the East, the 
emblem of light, to denote his alliance with Jesus Christ." See Chateau- 
briand, Beauties of Christianity, Book /., cli. 6. 



121 EAV— ECO 

EAVESDROPPER. A listener. The name is derived from 
the punishment which according to Oliver, was directed, in the 
lectures, at the revival of masonry in 1717, to be inflicted on a 
detected cowan, and which was — " To be placed under the eaves 
of the house in rainy weather, till the water runs in at his should- 
ers and out at his heels." 

ECLECTIC MASONRY. This was an order or rite established 
at Frankfort, in G-ermany, in the year 1783, by Baron de Knigge, 
for the purpose, if possible, of abolishing the " hautes grades," 
or philosophical degrees which had, at that period, increased to 
an excessive number. This "Eclectic masonry" acknowledged 
the three symbolic degrees only, as the true ritual, but permitted 
each lodge to select at its option any of the higher degrees, pro- 
vided they did not interfere with the uniformity of the first three. 
The founder of the rite hoped by this system of diffusion to 
weaken the importance and at length totally to destroy the exist- 
ence of these high degrees. But he failed in this expectation, 
and while these high degrees are still flourishing, there are not a 
dozen lodges of the Eclectic rite now in operation in Europe. 
Into this country it has never penetrated. 

ECOSSAIS. The fifth degree in the French rite. It is oc- 
cupied in the detail of those precautions made use of just before 
the completion of the Temple, for the preservation of important 
secrets, and is very similar in the character of its legend to the 
American degree of Select Master. See Scotch Mason. 

ECOSSAISM. By this word I mean those numerous Scotch 
degrees which find their prototypes in the degree established by 
the Chevalier Ramsay, and which he called Ecossais, or Scotch 
Mason, because he asserted that the system came originally from 
Scotland. From the one primitive degree of Ramsay an hundred 
others have sprung up, sometimes under the name of Ecossais, 
and sometimes under other titles, but still retaining one uniform 



EGY 12d 

character, — that of detailing the mode in which the great secret 
was preserved. This system of Ecossaism is to be found in all 
the rites. In the French it bears the name of Ecossais. and is 
described in the preceding article. In the ancient Scotch rite It 
is divided into three degrees, and consists of the Grand Master 
Architect, Knight of the Ninth Arch Elect, Perfect and Sublime 
Mason. Even in the appendages to the York rite we find an 
Ecossais under the name of the Select Master. 

Some idea of the extent to which these degrees have been 
multiplied, may be formed from the fact that Oliver has a list of 
eighty of them. Baron de Tschoudy enumerates twenty-seven 
of them, which he does not consider legitimate, leaving a far 
greater number to whose purity he does not object. 

EGYPTIAN MYSTERIES. Egypt was the cradle of all the 
mysteries of paganism. At one time in possession of all the 
learning and religion that was to be found in the world, it ex- 
tended into other nations the influence of its sacred rites and its 
secret doctrines. The importance, therefore, of the Egyptian 
mysteries, will entitle them to a more diffusive explanation than 
has been awarded to the examination of the other rites of spu- 
rious Freemasonry. 

The priesthood of Egypt constituted a sacred caste, in whom 
the sacerdotal functions were hereditary. They exercised also an 
important part in the government of the state, and the kings of 
Egypt were but the first subjects of its priests.* They had 
originally organized, and continued to control the ceremonies of 
initiation. Their doctrines were of two kinds, exoteric or public, 
which were communicated to the multitude, and esoteric or 
secret, which were revealed only to a chosen few ; and to obtain 
them, it was necessary to pass through an initiation which, as 
we shall see, was characterized by the severest trials of courage 
and fortitude. 



* In the Royal Arch degree, the King is an officer inferior .0 the Higfc 

Priest. 

11* 



126 EGY 

The principal seat of the mysteries was at Memphis, in the 
neighbourhood of the great Pyramid. They were of two kinds, 
the greater and the less; the former being the mysteries of Osiris 
and Serapis; the latter those of Isis. The mysteries of Osiris 
were celebrated at the autumnal equinox : those of Serapis, at the 
summer solstice; and those of Isis at the vernal equinox. 

The candidate was required to exhibit proofs of a blameless 
life. For some days previous to the commencement of the cere- 
monies of initiation, he abstained from all unchaste acts, confined 
himself to an exceedingly light diet, from which animal food was 
rigorously excluded, and purified himself by repeated ablutions. 
Being thus prepared, the candidate, conducted by a guide, pro- 
ceeded in the middle of the night, to the mouth of a low gallery, 
situated in one of the sides of the pyramid. Having crawled, for 
some distance, on his hands and knees, he at length came to the 
orifice of a wide and apparently unfathomable well, which the 
guide directed him to descend. Perhaps he hesitates and refuses 
to encounter the seeming danger ; if so, he, of course, renounces 
the enterprise, and is reconducted to the world, never again to 
become a candidate for initiation ; but if he is animated by courage, 
he determines to descend; whereupon the conductor points him 
to an iron ladder, which makes the descent perfectly safe. At 
the sixtieth step, the candidate reached the entrance to a winding 
gallery through a brazen door, which opened noiselessly and almost 
spontaneously, but which shut behind him with a heavy clang, 
that reverberated through the hollow passages. In front of this 
door was an iron grate, through the bars of which the aspirant 
beheld an extensive gallery, whose roof was supported on each 
side, by a long row of majestic columns, and enlightened by a 
multitude of brilliant lamps. The voices of the priests and 
priestesses of Isis, chanting funeral hymns, were mingled with 
the sound of melodious instruments, whose melancholy tones 
could not fail to affect the aspirant with the most solemn feelings. 
His guide now demanded of him, if he was still firm in his pur- 
pose of passing through the trials and dangers that awaited him, 



EGY 127 

or whether, overcome by what Le had already experienced, he 
was desirous of returning to the surface and abandoning the en- 
terprise. If he still persisted, they both entered a narrow gal- 
lery, on the walls of which were inscribed the following signifi- 
cant words : "The mortal who shall travel over this road, with- 
out hesitating or looking behind, shall be purified by fire, by wa- 
ter and by air, and if he can surmount the fear of death, he shall 
emerge from the bosom of the earth ; he shall revisit the light, 
and claim the right of preparing his soul for the reception of the 
mysteries of the great goddess Isis." The conductor now aban- 
doned the aspirant to himself, warning him of the dangers that 
surrounded and awaited him, and exhorting him to continue, (if 
he expected success,) unshaken in his firmness. 

The solitary candidate now continues to traverse the gallery 
for some distance farther. On each side are placed in niches, 
colossal statues, in the attitude of mummies, awaiting the hour 
of resurrection. The lamp with which, at the commencement- of 
the ceremonies, he had been furnished, casts but a glimmering 
light around, scarcely sufficient to make " darkness visible." 
Spectres seem to menace him at every step, but on his nearer 
approach they vanish into airy nothingness. At length he 
reaches an iron door guarded by three men armed with swords, 
and disguised in masks resembling the heads of jackals. One 
of them addresses him as follows : " We are not here to impede 
your passage. Continue your journey, if the gods have given 
you the power and strength to do so. But remember, if you once 
pass the threshold of that door, you must not dare to pause, or 
attempt to retrace your steps j if you do, you will find us here 
prepared to oppose your retreat, and to prevent your return." 
Having passed through the door, the candidate has scarcely pro- 
ceeded fifty steps before he is dazzled by a brilliant light, whose 
intensity augments as he advances. He now finds himself in 
a spacious hall, filled with inflammable substances, in a state of 
combustion, whose flames pervade the whole apartment, and 
form a bower of fire on the roof above. Through this it is ne- 



128 EGY 

uessary that he should pass with the greatest speed, to avoid the 
effects of the flames. To this peril succeeds another. On the 
other side of this fiery furnace, the floor of the hall is garnished 
with a huge net-work of red hot iron bars, the narrow interstices 
of which afford the aspirant this only chances of a secure footing. 
Having surmounted this difficulty by the greatest address, another 
and unexpected obstacle opposes his farther progress. A wide 
and rapid canal, fed from the waters of the Nile, crosses the pas* 
sage he is treading. Over this stream he has to swim. Divest- 
ing himself, therefore, of his garments, he fastens them in a 
bundle upon the top of his head, and holding his lamp, which 
now affords him all the light that he possesses, high above the 
water, he plunges in and boldly swims across. 

On arriving at the opposite side, he finds a narrow landing 
place, bounded by two high walls of brass, into each of which is 
inserted an immense wheel of the same metal, and terminated by 
an ivory door. This, of course, the aspirant attempts to open — 
but his efforts are in vain. The door is unyielding. At length 
he espies two large rings, of which he immediately takes hold, in 
the expectation that they will afford him the means of effecting 
an entrance. But what are his surprise and terror, when he be- 
holds the brazen wheels revolve upon their axles with a formid- 
able rapidity and stunning noise ) the platform sinks from under 
him, and he remains suspended by the rings, over a fathomless 
abyss, from which issues a chilling blast of wind; his lamp is 
extinguished, and he is left in profound darkness. For more 
than a minute he remains in this unenviable position, deafjned 
by the noise of the revolving wheels, chilled by the cold current 
of air, and dreading least his strength shall fail him, when he 
must inevitably be precipitated into the yawning gulf below: 
But by degrees the noise ceases, the platform resumes its former 
position, and the aspirant is restored to safety. The ivory door 
now spontaneously opens, and he finds himself in a brilliantly 
illuminated apartment, in the midst of the priests of Isis, clothed 
in the mystic insignia of their offices, who welcome him, and con- 



EGY 129 

gratulate liim on his escape fi Din the dangers which have menaced 
him. In this apartment he beholds the various symbols of the 
Egyptian mysteries, the occult signification of which is by degrees 
explained to him. 

But the ceremonies of initiation do not cease here. The can- 
didate is subjected to a series of fastings, which gradually increase 
in severity for nine times nine days. During this period a rigorous 
silence is imposed upon him, which, if he preserve it inviolable, 
is at length rewarded by his receiving a full revelation of the 
esoteric knowledge of the rites. This instruction took place du- 
ring what was called the twelve clays of manifestation. He was 
conducted before the triple statue of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, where, 
bending the knee, he was clothed with the sacred garments, and 
crowned with a wreath of palm ; a torch was placed in his hand 
and he was made to pronounce the following solemn obligation : 
" I swear never to reveal, to any of the uninitiated, the things 
that I shall see in this sanctuary, nor any of the knowledge that 
shall be communicated to me. I call as witnesses to my promise, 
the gods of heaven, of earth and hell, and I invoke their vengeance 
on my head, if I should ever wilfully violate my oath/' 

Having undergone this formality, the neophyte was introduced 
into the most secret part of the sacred edifice, where a priest in- 
structed him in the application of their symbols to the doctrines 
of the mysteries. He was then publicly announced, amid the 
rejoicings of the multitude, as an initiated, and thus terminated 
the ceremonies of initiation into the mysteries of Isis, which were 
the first degree of the Egyptian rites. 

The mysteries of Serapis constituted the second degree. Of 
these rites we know but little. Apuleius* alone, in his " Meta- 
morphoses/' has written of them, and what he has said is unim- 
portant. He only tells us that they were celebrated at the summer 

* It is indeed singular, that Herodotus, who treats circumstantially of the 
gods of the Egyptians and their religion, should make no mention of Serapii 
or his rites. 



130 EGY 

solstice, and at night; that the candidate was prepared by the 
usual fastings and purifications; and that no one was permitted 
to partake of them, unless he had previously been initiated into 
the mysteries of Isis. 

TLe mysteries of Osiris formed the third degree or summit of 
the Egyptian initiation. In these, the legend of the murder of 
Osiris, by his brother Typhon. was represented, and the god was 
personated by the candidate. Osiris, according to the tradition, 
was a wise king of Egypt, who having achieved the reform of his 
subjects at home, resolved to spread the blessings of civilization 
in the other parts of the earth. This he accomplished, but on 
his return he found his kingdom, which he had left in the care 
of his wife Isis, distracted by the seditions of his brother Typhon. 
Osiris attempted, by mild remonstrances, to convince his brother 
of the impropriety of his conduct, but he fell a sacrifice in the 
attempt. For Typhon murdered him in a secret apartment, and 
cutting up the body, enclosed the pieces in a chest, which he 
committed to the waters of the Nile. Isis, searching for the 
body, found it, and entrusted it to the care of the priests, estab- 
lishing at the same time the mysteries in commemoration of the 
foul deed. One piece of the body, however, she could not find, 
the membrum virile. For this she substituted a factitious repre- 
sentation, which she consecrated, and which, under the name of 
phallus, is to be found as the emblem of fecundity in all the an- 
cient mysteries. 

This legend was purely astronomical. Osiris was the sun, Isis 
the moon. Typhon was the symbol of winter, which destroys 
the fecundating and fertilizing powers of the sun, thus, as it 
were, depriving him of life. This was the catastrophe celebrated 
in the mysteries, and the aspirant was made to pass fictitiously 
through the suffering's and the death of Osiris. 

The secret doctrines of the Egyptian rites related to the gods, 
the creation and government of the world, and the nature and 
condition of the human soul. In their initiations, says Oliver, 
they informed the candidate that the mysteries were received 



ELE 131 

from Adam, Seth, and Enoch, and they called the perfectly mi* 
tiated candidate Al-om-jah, from the name of the Deity. Secrecy 
was principally inculcated, and all their lessons were taught by 
symbols. Many of these have been preserved. With them, a 
point within a circle, was the symbol of the Deity surrounded 
by eternity; the globe was a symbol of the supreme and eternal 
God; a serpent with the tail in his mouth, was emblamatic of 
eternity; a child sitting on the lotos was a symbol of the sun; a 
palm tree, of victory; a staff, of authority; an ant, of knowledge; 
a goat, of fecundity; a wolf, of aversion; the right hand with the 
fingers open, of plenty; and the left hand closed, of protection.* 

ELECT, PERFECT AND SUBLIME MASON. One who 

is in possession of the 14th degree of the ancient Scotch rite. 
See Perfection. 

ELECT OF PERIGNAN. A French degree illustrative of 
the punishment inflicted upon certain criminals whose exploits 
constitute a portion of the legend of symbolic masonry. The 
counterpart of this degree is to be found in the Elected Knights 
of nine, and Illustrious Elected of Fifteen in the ancient Scotch 
rite. 

ELECTED KNIGHTS OF FIFTEEN. See Illustrious 
Elected of Fifteen. 

ELECTED KNIGHTS OF NINE. Maitre ilu des neufs. 
The ninth degree in the ancient Scotch rite. There are but two 
officers : the Most Powerful, who represents Solomon, and one 
Warden in the West, representing Stolkin. The meetings are 
called Chapters. In this degree is detailed the mode in which 
certain ****** *****=^ w j 1Q j ugt De f ore t k e completion of the 

* See, for the facts lecorded in this article, Apuleius, Metamorph.; Clavel, 
Histoire de la Franc-Ma§onrie; Oliver, Signs and Symbols; Pluche, Histoire 
du Ciel, etc. 



132 ELE 

Temple, had been engaged in an execrable deed of villany, re- 
ceived their punishment. It exemplifies the truth of the maxim, 
that the punishment of crime, though sometimes slow, is ever 
sure j and it admonishes us, by the historical circumstances on 
which it is founded, of the binding nature of our masonic obli- 
gations. The symbolic colours are red, white, and black. The 
white is emblematic of the purity of the knights; the red, 
of the crime which was committed; and the black, of grief. 
This degree, under the title of "Flu," constitutes the 4th de- 
gree in the French rite. 

ELECTION. It is an ancient regulation that no candidate 
can be elected a member of our order, until strict enquiry shall 
have been made into his moral character. For this purpose, all 
letters of application, unless a dispensation is granted, must lie 
over at least one month, during which time they are entrusted to 
a committee of investigation, whose unfavourable report is equi- 
valent to a rejection by the lodge, and precludes the necessity of 
a ballot. If it be favourable, the ballot is then entered into. 
The reason why an unfavourable report of the committee is equi- 
valent to a rejection, is, that as it takes two at least of the com- 
mittee to make the report unfavourable, it is to be supposed that 
these two would of course black-ball the candidate. And as two 
black balls constitute a peremptory rejection, they may be con- 
sidered as already given by the report. For the further regula- 
tion of the election, see the word Ballot. 

The election of the officers of a lodge, must always take place 
before St. John the Evangelist's day, which is with us the com- 
mencement of the masonic year. Should it from any circum- 
stances be postponed, it cannot afterward be entered into, except 
by dispensation from the Grand Master. Nominations of candi 
dates are not permitted by the usages of masonry, but a short 
time previous to the election, the brethren should be called off to 
refreshment, for the purpose of interchanging their opinions. 
They are then called on, and each brother deposits in the ballot- 



ELE 133 

box the name of liiin whom he deems best qualified or most wor- 
thy; and the votes being counted, the one who has received a 
majority of the votes is declared elected. 

ELEPHAJSTTA. The cavern of Elephanta in Hindostan is 
the most ancient temple in the world. It was the principal place 
for the celebration of the mysteries of India. 

ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES. These were among the most 
important of the ancient rites, and were hence often called em- 
phatically "the mysteries." Cicero speaks of them as "the sacred 
and august rites of Eleusis, where men come from the remotest 
regions to be initiated."* They were originally celebrated only at 
Eleusis, a town of Attica in Greece, but they were extended to 
Italy, and even to Britain. In these mysteries was commemo- 
rated the search of Ceres after her daughter Proserpine, who had 
been ravished by Plato, and carried to the infernal regions. The 
chief dispenser of the mysteries was called the Hierophant, or 
revealer of sacred things; to him were joined three assistants, 
the Daduchus or torch-bearer, the Ceryx or herald, and the Ho 
epi bomo or altar-server. The mysteries were of two kinds, the 
greater and lesser. The latter were merely preparatory, and con- 
sisted of a nine days lustration and purification succeeded by 
sacrifices. A year after,those persons, who had passed through 
the lesser were admitted into the greater, where a full revelation 
was made of the secret doctrine. This, according to the opinion 
of the learned Warburton, principally consisted in a declaration 
of the unity of God, an opinion not with safety to be publicly pro- 
mulgated, amid the errors and superstitions of ancientpolytheism. {■ 



* Eleusina sancta ilia et augusta; ubi initiantur gentes oraruin ultimas. — 
Nat. Deor. lib. i. 

f The learned Faber believes there was an intimate connexion existing be- 
tween the Arhite worship and the orgies of Eleusis, a connexion which he 
traces through all the ancient mysteries. — Faber's Cab ri and Origin of Pa~ 
gan Idolatry. 



134 ELE 

For, as Plato observes, in his Timaeus, "it is difficult to discover 
the author and father of the Universe, and when discovered, im- 
possible to reveal him to all mankind." 

The herald opened the ceremonies of initiation into the greater 
mysteries by the proclamation, exaq, exaq, e<rze fisflyjAot, "Retire, 

! ye profane." Thus were the sacred precincts tiled. The 
aspirant was presented naked. He was clothed with the skin of 
a calf. An oath of secrecy was administered, and he was then 
asked, "Have you eaten bread ?" The reply to which was," No, 

1 have drunk the sacred mixture, I have been fed from the bas- 
ket of Ceres; I have laboured, I have been placed in the calathius, 
and in the cystus." These replies proved that the candidate was 
duly and truly prepared, and that he had made suitable profi- 
ciency by a previous initiation in the lesser mysteries. The calf- 
skin was then taken from him, and he was invested with the 
sacred tunic, which he was to wear until it fell to pieces. He 
was now left in utter darkness, to await in the vestibule the time 
when the doors of the sanctuary should be opened to him. Ter- 
rific noises, resembling the roar of thunder, and the bellowing of 
mighty winds were heard ; mimic lightning flashed, and spectres 
of horrible forms appeared. During this period, which, if the 
conjecture is correct, must have been the funereal* part of the 
rites, it is supposed that the tragic end of Bacchus, the son of 
Semele, who was murdered by the Titans, was celebrated. The 
doors of the inner temple were at length thrown open, and the 
candidate beheld the statue of the goddess Ceres, surrounded by 
a dazzling light. The candidate, who had heretofore been called 
a mystes or novice, was now termed epoptes, an inspector or eye- 
witness, and the secret doctrine was revealed. The assembly was 
then closed with the Sanscrit words, u honx om pax" another 
proof, if another were wanting, of the Eastern origin of the Gre- 
cian mysteries. *j" 

* "The mysteries of antiquity were all funereal." — Oliver, Hist, of Initia- 
tion, p. 314. 

f The words Candacha Om Pachsa, of which konx om pax are a Grecian 



ELE 135 

The qualifications for initiation were maturity of age, and 
puritj of conduct. A character, free from suspicion of immoral- 
ity, was absolutely required in the aspirant. Nero, on this ac- 
count, did not dare, when in Greece, to offer himself as a candi- 
date for initiation. The privilege was at first confined to natives 
of Greece, but it was afterwards extended to foreigners. Signi- 
ficant symbols were used as means of instruction, and words of 
recognition were communicated to the initiated. In these regu- 
lations, as well as in the gradual advancement of the candidate 
from one degree to another, that resemblance to our own institu- 
tion is readily perceived, which has given to these, as well as to 
the other ancient mysteries, the appropriate name of Spurious 
Freemasonry. The following passage of an ancient author, pre- 
served by Stobasus, and quoted by Warburton in the 2d Book of 
his Divine Legation, is too interesting to Freemasons to be 
omitted : 

" The mind is affected and agitated in death just as it is in 
initiation into the grand mysteries; and word answers to word, 
as well as thing to thing ) for reXeurmt is to die ; and reXeiffOac, 
to be initiated. The first stage is nothing, but errors and uncer- 
tainties ; laborious wanderings ; a rude and fearful march through 
night and darkness. And now arrived on the verge of death 
and initiation, every thing wears a dreadful aspect • it is all hor- 
ror, trembling, sweating, and affrightment. But this scene once 
over, a miraculous and divine light displays itself, and shining 
plains, and flowery meadows, open on all hands before them. 
Here they are entertained with hymns and dances ; with the sub- 
lime doctrines of faithful knowledge, and with reverend and holy 



corruption, are still used, according to Capt. Wilford, at the religious meetings 
and ceremenies of the Brahmins. He gives the definition of the expression as 
follows : " Candscha signifies the object of our most ardent wishes. Om is the 
famous monosyllable used both at the beginning and conclusion of a prayer or 
religious rite like, Amen. Papsha exactly answers to the obsolete Latin word 
vix ; it signifies change, course, stead, plaoo, turn of work, duty, fortune, Ac." 
\siatic Researches, vol. v. p. 300. 



I3G ELU— EMB 

visions. And now become perfect and initiated, they are free, 
and no longer under restraint; but crowned and triumphant, 
they walk up and down the regions of the blessed; converse 
with pure and holy men, and celebrate the sacred mysteries at 
pleasure/ 7 

ELU. This, which may be translated " Elected Mason," is 
the fourth degree of the French rite. It is occupied in the de- 
tails of the detection and punishment of certain traitors who, 
just before the completion of the Temple, were guilty of a henious 
crime. 

ELUS. All the degrees, whose object is that detailed in the 
preceding article, are called "Elus," or "the degrees of the 
Elected." They are so numerous as to form, like Ecossaism, a 
particular system, which is to be found pervading every rite. In 
the York rite, the Elu is incorporated in the Master's degree ; in 
the French, it occupies a distinct degree; in the ancient Scotch 
rite, it consists of three degrees, Elected Knights of Nine, Illus- 
trious Elect of Fifteen, and Sublime Knights Elected. Kagon 
reckons the five preceding degrees among the Elus, but without 
reason, as they belong rather to the order of Masters, and are so 
classed by the chiefs of the Scotch rite. 

Those higher Elus, in which the object of the election is 
3hanged and connected with Templar Masonry, are more pro- 
perly called "Kadoshes." 

EMBLEM. An occult representation of something unknown 
or concealed, by a sign that is known. In all the ancient 
mysteries, and in the philosophic school of Pythagoras, the mode 
of instruction adopted was by emblems. The same system is 
pursued in Freemasonry. The explanation of such of these 
emblems as it is lawful to divulge, will be found under the proper 
heads in this work. See, also, Symbol. 

12 



EMP— ENC 137 

EMPERORS OF THE EAST AND WEST. In 1758 there 
was established in Paris a body called the " Council of Emperors 
of the East and West." The members assumed the titles of 
" Sovereign Prince Masons, Substitutes General of the Royal Art, 
Grand Superintendants and officers of the Grand and Sovereign 
Lodge of St John of Jerusalem." Their ritual consisted of 
twenty-five degrees, as follows : 1 to 19, the same as the Scotch 
Rite (which see.) 20, Grand Patriarch Noachite. 21, Key of 
Masonry. 22, Prince of Lebanon. 23, Knight of the Sun. 
24, Kadosh. 25, Prince of the Royal Secret. In the same 
year the degrees were established in the city of Berlin, and 
adopted by the Grand Lodge of the Three Globes. Frederick II. 
King of Prussia, is said to have subsequently merged this body 
in the Ancient and Accepted Rite of which he was the head, 
adding eight degrees to the twenty-five they already possessed, so 
as to make the whole number thirty-three. 

It is however a mistake to suppose, as has been asserted by 
Thory* and Ragonj" that the Council of Emperors of the East 
and West was the origin of the Ancient and Accepted Rite. The 
former had originally adopted twenty-five of the degrees of the 
latter rite, but were subsequently reformed and reorganized by 
Frederick. Such at least is the theory now entertained by the 
possessors of the Ancient and Accepted Rite. 

ENCAMPMENT. All regular assemblies of Knights Tem- 
plars were formerly called Encampments. They are now called 
Commanderies, and must consist of the following officers : Eminent 
Commander, Generalissimo, Captain General, Prelate, Senior 
Warden, Junior Warden, Treasurer. Recorder, Warder, Stand- 
ard Bearer, Sword Bearer, and Sentinel. These Commanderies 
derive their Warrants of Constitution from a Grand Command- 
ery, or if there is no such body in the State in which they are 



* Acta Latomoruru. 
f Orthodoxie Magonnique. 
12* 



138 ENC 

organized, from the Grand Encampment of the United States. 
They confer the degrees of Knight of the Red Cross, Knight 
Templar, and Knight of Malta. 

In a Commandery of Knights Templars, the throne is situated 
in the East. Above it are suspended three banners : the centre 
one bearing a cross, surmounted by a glory ; the left one having 
inscribed on it the emblems of the order, and the right one, a 
paschal lamb. The Eminent Commander is seated on the throne ; 
the Generalissimo, Prelate, and the Past Commanders on his 
right; the Captain General on his left; the Treasurer and 
Recorder, as in a symbolic lodge; the Senior Warden at the 
south-west angle of the triangle, and upon the right of the first 
division ; the Junior Warden at the north-west angle of the tri- 
angle, and on the left of the third division ; the Standard Bearer 
in the West, between the Sword Bearer on his right, and the 
Warder on his left ; and in front of him is a stall for the initiate. 
The Knights are arranged in equal numbers on each side, and in 
front of the throne.* 

ENCAMPMENT, GRAND. This body is now styled a Grand 
Commandery. When three or more Commanderies are instituted 
in a State, they may unite and form a Grand Commandery, under 
the regulations prescribed by the Grand Encampment of the 
United States. They have the superintendence of all Councils 
of Knights of the Red Cross and Commanderies of Knights Tem- 
plars that are holden in their respective jurisdictions. 

A Grand Commandery meets at least annually, and its officers 
consist of a Grand Commander, Deputy Grand Commander, Grand 
Generalissimo, Grand Captain General, Grand Prelate, Grand 
Senior and Junior Warden, Grand Treasurer, Grand Recorder, 
Grand Standard Bearer, and Grand Sword Bearer. 

ENCAMPMENT, GRAND. The present Grand Encamp- 



Cross, Templarg' Chart, p. 41. 



ENO 139 

merit of the United States was instituted on the 22d day of June, 
1816. It consists of a Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master, 
and other Grand officers, similar to those of a G-rand Commandery, 
with the representatives of the various G-rand Commanderies, and 
of the subordinate Commanderies under its immediate jurisdic- 
tion. The Grand Encampment meets triennially. 

ENOCH. Of Enoch, thr father of Methuselah, the following 
tradition is interesting. TV hen the increasing wickedness of 
mankind had caused God to threaten the world with universal 
destruction, Enoch became afraid that the knowledge of the arts 
and sciences would perish with the human race. To avoid this 
catastrophe, and to preserve the principles of the sciences for the 
posterity of those whom God should be pleased to spare, he erected 
two great pillars on the top of the highest mountain, the one of 
brass to withstand water, and the other of marble to withstand 
fire, for he was ignorant whether the destruction would be by a 
general deluge or a conflagration. On the marble pillar he en- 
graved an historical direction in respect to a subterranean temple 
which he had built by the inspiration of the Most High, and on 
the pillar of brass he inscribed the principles of the liberal arts, 
and especially of masonry. In the flood which subsequently took 
place, the marble pillar was, of course, swept away, but by divine 
permission, the pillar of brass withstood the water, by which 
means the ancient state of the arts, and particularly of masonry, 
has been handed down to us. This tradition has been adopted 
into the Lodge of Perfection, (Scottish rite,) and forms a part of 
the degree of the Ancient Arch of Solomon, or Knights of the 
Nmth Arch. 

According to the Greeks, Enoch was the same as Hermes 
Trismegistus. He taught, say they, the art of building cities, 
discovered the knowledge of the Zodiac, and the course of the 
planets, made excellent laws, and appointed festivals for sacrificing 
to the Sun, and instructed them in the worship of the true God. 
He, too, was the inventor of books, and the art of writing. 



14C ENT— EPO 

"According to our traditions, Enoch was a very eminent Free- 
mason, and the conservator of the true name of God, which was 
subsequently lost even among his favorite people the Jews." 

ENTERED. We say of a candidate, who has received the 
first degree of masonry, that he has entered our society ; whence 
the degree is called that of " Entered Apprentice." 

ENTERED APPRENTICE. Apprenti. See Apprentice. 

EPHOD. A garment worn by the high priest over the tunic 
and outer garment. It was without sleeves, and divided below 
the arm pits into two parts or halves, one falling before and the 
other behind, and both reaching to the middle of the thighs. 
They were joined above on the shoulders by buckles and two 
large precious stones, on which were inscribed the names of the 
twelve tribes, six on each. The Ephod was a distinctive mark 
of the priesthood. It was of two kinds, one of plain linen for 
the priests, and another, richer, and embroidered for the High 
Priest, which was composed of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen. 

EPOPT. This was the name given to one who had passed 
through the great mysteries, and been permitted to behold what 
was concealed from the mystes, who had only Deen initiated into 
the lesser. It signifies an eye-witness, and is derived from the 
Greek e-oxTsuw, to look into, to behold. The epopts repeated 
the oath of secrecy which had been administered to them on their 
initiation into the lesser mysteries, and were then conducted intc 
the lighted interior of the sanctuary and permitted to behold 
what the Greeks emphatically termed " the sight," aonx/ia. The 
epopts alone were admitted to the sanctuary, for the mystse were 
confined to the vestibule of the temple. The epopts were, in 
fact, the Master Masons of the Mysteries, while the mystnc were 
the Apprentices and Fellow Crafts. 



ESO 141 

ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC MASONRY.* From two 
Greek words signifying interior and exterior. The ancient phi- 
losophers, in the establishment of their respective sects, divided 
their schools into two kinds, exoteric and esoteric. In the exoteric 
school, instruction was given in public places j the elements of 
science, physical and moral, were unfolded, and those principles 
which ordinary intelligence could grasp, and against which the 
prejudices of ordinary minds would not revolt, were inculcated 
in places accessible to all whom curiosity or a love of wisdom 
congregated. But the more abstruse tenets of their philosophy 
were reserved for a chosen few, who, united in an esoteric school, 
received, in the secret recesses of the master's dwelling, lessons 
too strange to be acknowledged, too pure to be appreciated, by 
the vulgar crowd, who, in the morning, had assembled at the 
public lecture. 

Thus, in some measure, is it with masonry. Its system, taken 
as a whole, is, it is true, strictly esoteric in its construction. Its 
disciples are taught a knowledge which is forbidden to the pro- 
fane, and it is only in the adytum of the lodge that these lessons 
are bestowed ; and yet, viewed in itself and unconnected with the 
world without, masonry contains within its bosom uo ex( teric and 
esoteric school, as palpably divided as were those of tie ancient 
sects, with this simple difference, that the admission or the exclu- 
sion was in the latter case involuntary, and dependent solely on the 
will of the instructor, while in the former it is voluntary, and 
dependent only on the will and the wishes of the disciple. In 
the sense in which I wish to convey the terms, every Mason, on 
his initiation, is exoteric — he beholds before him a beautiful 
fabric, the exterior of which, alone, he has examined, and with 
this examination he may, possibly, remain satisfied — many, alas ! 
too many, are. If so, he will remain an Exoteric Mason. But 
there are others, whose curiosity is not so easily gratified — they 



* See a Funeral Address delivered by the author in the year 1843, and! 
shed in Moore's Freemason's Mag. Vol. iii. No. 7. 



142 ESO 

desire a further and more intimate knowledge of the structure 
than has been presented to their view — they enter and examine 
its internal form — they traverse its intricate passages, they ex- 
plore its hidden recesses, and admire and contemplate its magni- 
ficent apartments — their knowledge of the edifice is thus en- 
larged, and with more extensive, they have purer views of the 
principles of its construction, than have fallen to the lot of their 
less enquiring brethren. These men become Esoteric Masons. 
The hidden things of the order are, to them, familiar as house- 
hold words, — they constitute the Masters in Israel, who are to 
guide and instruct the less informed — and to diffuse light over 
paths which, to all others, are obscure and dark. 

There is between these studious Masons, and their slothful, 
unen quiring brethren, the same difference in the views they take 
of masonry, as there is between an artist and a peasant in their 
respective estimation of an old painting — it may be of a Raphael 
or a Reubens. The peasant gazes with stupid wonder or with 
cold indifference, on the canvass redolent with life, without the 
excitation of a single emotion in his barren soul. Its colours 
mellowed to a rich softness, by the hand of time, are to him less 
pleasing than the gaudy tints which glare upon the sign of his 
village inn; and ifs subject, borrowed from the deep lore of his- 
tory, or the bold imaginings of poesy, are less intelligible to him. 
than the daubed print which hangs conspicuously at his cottage 
fireside. And he is amazed to see this paltry piece of canvass 
bought with the treasures of wealth, and guarded with a care 
that the brightest jewel would demand in vain. 

But to the eye of the artist, how different the impression con- 
veyed ! To him, every thing beams with light, and life, and 
beauty. To him, it is the voice of nature, speaking in the lan- 
guage of art. Prometheus-like, he sees the warm blood gushing 
through the blue veins, and the eye beaming with a fancied ani- 
mation — the correctness of its outlines — the boldness of its fore- 
shortenings, where the limbs appear ready to burst from the can- 
vass, — the delicacy of its shadows, and the fine arrangement of 



ESO 143 

its lights, are all before him, subjects of admiration, on which he 
could forever gaze, and examples of instruction which he would 
fain imitate. 

And whence arises this difference of impression, produced by 
the same object on two different individuals? It is not from 
genius alone, for that, unaided, brings no light to the mind, 
though it prepares it for its reception. It is cultivation which 
enlarges the intellect, and fits it as a matrix for the birth of those 
truths which find in the bosom of ignorance no abiding place. 

And thus it is with masonry. As we cultivate it as a science 
its objects become extended — as our knowledge of it increases, 
new lights burst forth from its inmost recess, which to the inqui- 
sitive Mason, burn with bright effulgence ; but to the inattentive 
and unsearching, are but as dim and fitful glimmerings, only 
rendering " darkness visible." 

Let every Mason ask himself, if he be of the esoteric or the 
exoteric school of masonry. Has he studied its hidden beauties 
and excellencies ? Has he explored its history, and traced out 
the origin and the erudite meaning of its symbols? Or has he 
supinely rested content with the knowledge he received at the 
pedestal, nor sought to pass beyond the porch of the Temple ? 
If so, he is not prepared to find in our royal art those lessons 
■vhich adorn the path of life, and cheer the bed of death; and, 
for all purposes, except those of social meeting, and friendly re 
cognition, masonry is to him a sealed book. 

But, if he has ever felt a desire to seek and cultivate the in- 
ternal philosophy of masonry, let him advance in those rarely 
trodden paths; the labour of such a pursuit is itself refresh- 
ment, and the reward great. Fresh flowers bloom at every step; 
and the prospect on every side is so filled with beauty and en- 
chantment, that, ravished at the sight, he will rush on with en- 
thusiasm from fact to fact, and from truth to truth, until the 
whole science of masonry lies before him invested with a new 
form and sublimity. 



144 ESQ— ESS 

ESQUIRE. A grade or rank in the degree of Knights Tem- 
plars, according to the English organization. See Knight Tem- 
plar. 

ESSEXES. A sect among the Jews, supposed by masonic 
writers to have been the descendants of the Freemasons of the 
Temple, and through whom the order was propagated to modern 
times. See the article ll Antiquity of Masonry" in this work. 
The real origin of the Essenes has been a subject of much dis- 
pute among profane writers ; but there is certainly a remarkable 
coincidence in many of their doctrines and ceremonies with those 
professed by the Freemasons. They were divided into two classes, 
speculative^ and operatives; the former devoting themselves to a 
life of contemplation, and the latter daily engaging in the prac- 
tice of some handicraft. The proceeds of their labour were, 
however, deposited in one general stock ; for they religiously ob- 
served a community of goods. They secluded themselves from 
the rest of the world, and were completely esoteric in their doc- 
trines, which were also of a symbolic character. They admitted 
no women into their order; abolished all distinctions of rank, 
" meeting on the level," and giving the precedence only to 
virtue. Charity was bestowed on their indigent brethren, and. 
as a means of recognition, they adopted signs and other modes 
similar to those of the Freemasons. Their order was divided 
into three degrees. When a candidate applied for admission, his 
character was scrutinized with the greatest severity. He was 
then presented with a girdle, a hatchet, and a white garment. 
Being thus admitted to the first degree, he remained in a state 
of probation for one year; during which time, although he lived 
according their customs, he was not admitted to their meetings. 
At the termination of this period, if found worthy, he was ad- 
vanced to the second degree, and was made a partaker of the 
waters of purification. But he was not yet permitted to live 
among them, but after enduring another probation of two years 
duration, he was at length admitted to the third degree, and 



EUN 145 

united in full fellowship with them. On this occasion, he took a 
solemn oath, the principal heads of which, according to Josephus,* 
were as follows : To exercise piety toward God, and justice toward 
men; to hate the wicked and assist the good; to show fidelity to 
all men, obedience to those in authority, and kindness to those 
below him; to be a lover of truth, and a reprover of falsehood; 
to keep his hands clear from theft, and his soul from unlawful 
gains ; to conceal nothing from his own sect, nor to discover any 
of their doctrines to others; to communicate their doctrines, in 
no otherwise than he had received them, himself; and lastly to 
preserve the books belonging to the sect, and the names of the 
angels in which he shall be instructed. Philo, of Alexandria, who, 
in two books written expressly on the subject of the Essenses, 
has given a copious account of their doctrines and manners, says, 
that when they were listening to the secret instructions of their 
chiefs, they stood with "the right hand on the breast a little be- 
low the chin, and the left hand placed along the side." A simi- 
lar position is attributed by Macrobius to Vemis, when deploring 
the death of Adonis, in those rites which were celebrated at Tyre, 
the birth-place of Hiram the Builder. 

EUNUCH. No eunuch can be initia ed as a Mason The 
eontempt in which these unfortunate beings are held by the rest 
of their fellow-creatures, unfits them for the close union of bro- 
therly love which masonry inculcates ; and the vicious and ma- 
lignant disposition, which all experience teaches us is the cha- 
racteristic of this isolated race, derived doubtless from their feel- 
ing of isolation, debars them from entrance into a society whose 
foundation is laid in religion and morality. The prohibition de- 
rives support, also, from the authority of Scripture. By the 
Jewish law, (Deut. xxiii. 1,) eunuchs are forbidden "to enter 
into the congregation of the Lord." 



* Joseph. Bell. Jucl. II. viii. 
13 



146 EXA 

EXALTED. A candidate is said to be exalted, when lie re- 
ceives the degree of Holy Royal Arch, the seventh in York ma- 
sonry. Exalted means elevated or lifted up, and is applicable 
both to a peculiar ceremony of the degree, and to the fact that 
this degree, in the rite in which it is practised, constitutes the 
summit of ancient masonry. 

EXxiMINATION. The due examination of strangers who 
claim the right of visit, should be entrusted only to the most 
skilful and prudent brethren of the lodge. And the examining 
committee should never forget, that no man applying for admis- 
sion is to be considered as a Mason, however strong may be his 
recommendations, until by undeniable evidence he has proved 
himself to be such. 

All the necessary forms and antecedent cautions should be 
observed. Enquiries should be made as to the time and place 
of initiation, as a preliminary step, the Tiler's B, of course, 
never being omitted. Then remember the good old rule of 
" commencing at the beginning." Let every thing proceed in 
regular course, not varying in the slightest degree from the order 
in which it is to be supposed that the information sought was 
originally received. Whatever be the suspicions of imposture, 
let no expression of those suspicions be made until the final de- 
cree for rejection is uttered. And let that decree be uttered in 
general terms, such as, " I am not satisfied," or " I do not re- 
cognize you," and not in more specific language, such as " You 
did not answer this enquiry," or "You are ignorant on that 
point." The candidate for examination is only entitled to know 
that he has not complied generally with the requisitions of his 
examiner. To descend to particulars is always improper and 
and often dangerous. Above all, never ask what the lawyers 
call "leading questions," which include in themselves the an- 
swers, nor in any manner aid the memory or prompt the forgefc- 
fulness of the party examined, by the slightest hints. If he has 
it in him it will come out without assistance, and if he h;.s it nut, 



EXC— EXP 147 

lie is clearly entitled to no aid. The Mason who is so unmindful 
of his obligations as to have forgotten the instructions he has re- 
curved, must pay the penalty of his carelessness, and be deprived 
of his contemplated visit to that society, whose secret modes of 
recognition he has so little valued as not to have treasured them 
in his memory. 

Lastly, never should an unjustifiable delicacy weaken the rigor 
of these rules. Remember, that for the wisest and most evident 
reasons, the merciful maxim of the law, which says that it is 
better that ninety-nine guilty men should escape, than that one 
innocent man should be punished, is with us reversed, and that 
in masonry it is better that ninety and nine true men should be 
turned away from the door of a lodge, than that one cowan should 
be admitted. 

EXCLUSION. See Visit, Eight of. 

EXOTERIC. See Esoteric. 

EXPULSION. Expulsion is the highest masonic penalty 
that can be imposed by a lodge, upon any of its delinquent mem- 
bers We shall, therefore, give it more than a passing notice, 
and treat, 1st, of its effects ; 2d, of the proper tribunal to im- 
pose it; 3d, of the persons who may be subject to it; and 4th, 
of the offences for which it may be inflicted. 

1. Expulsion from a lodge deprives the party expelled of all 
the rights and privileges that he ever enjoyed, not only as a mem- 
ber of the particular lodge from which he has been ejected, but 
also of those which were inherent in him as a member of the 
fraternity at large. He is at once as completely divested of his 
masonic character, as though he had never been admitted, so far 
as regards his rights, while his duties and obligations remain as 
firm as ever, it being impossible for any human power to cancel 
them. He can no longer demand the aid of bis brethren, nor 
require from them the performance of any of the duties to which 



M* EXP 

he was formerly entitled, nor visit any lodge, nor unite in any of 
the public or private ceremonies of the order. He is considered 
as being without the pale, and it would be criminal in any brother, 
aware of his expulsion, even to hold communication with him on 
masonic subjects. 

2. The only proper tribunal to impose this heavy punishment, 
is a Grand Lodge. A subordinate lodge tries its delinquent 
member, and if guilty declares him expelled. But the sentence 
is of no force until the Grand Lodge, under whose jurisdiction it 
is working, has confirmed it. And it is optional with the Grand 
Lodge to do so, or, as is frequently done, to reverse the decision 
and reinstate the brother. Some of the lodges in this country 
claim the right to expel independently of the action of the Grand 
Lodge, but the claim is not valid. The very fact that an expul- 
sion is a penalty, affecting the general relations of the punished 
party with the whole fraternity, proves that its exercise never 
could with propriety be entrusted to a body so circumscribed in 
its authority as a subordinate lodge. Besides, the general practice 
of the fraternity is against it. The English Constitutions vest 
the power to expel exclusively in the Grand Lodge. " The sub- 
ordinate lodge may suspend and report the case to the Grand 
Lodge. If the offence and evidence be sufficient, expulsion is 
decreed."* 

3. All Masons, whether members of lodges or not, are subject 
to the infliction of this punishment, when found to merit it. We 
have already said, under the article " Demit," that resignation or 
withdrawal from the order, does not cancel a Mason's obligations, 
nor exempt him from that wholesome control which the order 
exercises over the moral conduct of its members. The fact that 
a Mason, not a member of any particular lodge, but who has been 
guilty of immoral or unmasonic conduct, can be tried and punished 
by any lodge, within whose jurisdiction he may be residing, is 
without doubt. The remarks of Brother Mooref on this subject, 



* Moore's Magazine, vol. 1, p. 356. 
f Moore's Magazine, vol. 1, p. 36. 



EXP i49 

are too valuable to be omitted. " Every member of the frater- 
nity is accountable for his conduct as a Mason, to any regularly 
constituted lodge ; but if lie be a member of a particular lodge, 
he is more immediately accountable to that lodge. A Mason 
acquires some special privileges by becoming a member of a lodge, 
and he has to perform special services which he might not other- 
wise be subjected to. But he enters into no new obligations to 
the fraternity generally, and his accountability is not increased 
any further than regards the faithful performance of those special 
duties. Hence, the difference between those brethren who are 
members of a lodge, and those who are not, is, that the members 
are bound to obey the By-Laws of their own particular lodges, in 
addition to the general duty of the fraternity. Again, every 
Mason is bound to obey the summons of a lodge of Master Masons, 
whether he be a member or otherwise. This obligation on the 
part of an individual, clearly implies a power in the lodge to in- 
vestigate and control his conduct, in all things which concern the 
interest of the institution. This power cannot be confined to 
those brethren who are members of lodges, for the obligation is 
general." 

4. Immoral conduct, such as would subject a candidate for 
admission to rejection, should be the only offence visited with 
expulsion. As the punishment is general, affecting the relation 
of the one expelled with the whole fraternity, it should not be 
lightly imposed, for the violation of any masonic act not general 
in its character. The commission of a grossly immoral act is a 
violation of the contract entered into between each Mason and 
his order. If sanctioned by silence or impunit} T , it would b ring- 
discredit on the institution, and tend to impair its usefulness. 
A Mason who is a bad man, is to the fraternity what a mortified 
limb is to the body, and should be treated with the same mode 
of cure — he should be cut off, lest his example spread, and disease 
be propagated through the constitution. But it is too much the 
custom of lodges in this country, to extend this remedy to cases 
neither deserving nor requiring its application. I allude here, 

13* 



150 EXP 

particularly, to expulsion for non-payment of lodge dues. Upon 
the principle just laid down, this is neither kind nor consistent. 
The payment of arrears is a contract, in which the only parties 
are a particular lodge and its members, of which contract the 
body at large know nothing. It is not a general masonic duty, 
and is not called for by any masonic regulation. The system of 
arrears was unknown in former years, and has only been established 
of late for the sake of convenience. Even now there are some 
lodges where it does not prevail ;* and no Grand Lodge has ever 
yet attempted to control or regulate it, thus tacitly admitting that 
it forms no part of the general regulations of the order. Hence 
the non-payment of arrears is a violation of a special and voluntary 
obligation to a particular lodge, and not of any general duty to 
the fraternity at large. The punishment therefore inflicted should 
be one affecting the relations of the delinquent with the particular 
lodge, whose by-laws he has infringed, and not a general one af- 
fecting his relations with the whole order. But expulsion has 
this latter effect, and is therefore inconsistent and unjust. And 
as it is a punishment too often inflicted upon poverty, it is unkind. 
A lodge might in this case forfeit or suspend the membership of 
the defaulter in his own lodge, but such suspension should not 
affect the right of visiting other lodges, nor any of the other 
privileges inherent in him as a Mason. This is the practice, we 
are glad to say, pursued by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 
one of the most enlightened masonic bodies in the Union. It is 
also the regulation of the Grand Lodge of England, from which 
most of our Grand Lodges derive, directly or indirectly, their ex- 
istence. It is consonant with the ancient usages of the fraternity. 
And finally, it would produce all the good effects required by 
punishment, namely, reform and the prevention of crime, and 



* I would cite, as an instance coming under my immediate and personal 
knowledge, the case of Union Kilwinning Lodge in Charleston, S. C, where 
every member pays a certain sum on his admission, and is forever afterwards 
exempt from contributions of any kind. 



EXP— EXT 151 

ought to be adopted by every Grand Lodge, as a part of its 
constitution. 

One other question arises. Does expulsion from one of what 
is called the higher degrees of masonry, such as a Chapter or an 
Encampment, affect the relations of the expelled party to Blue 
Masonry. We answer unhesitatingly, it does not. In this 
opinion, we are supported by the best authority, though the action 
of some Grand Lodges, as that of New York, is adverse to it. 
But the principle upon which our doctrine is founded, is plain. 
A Chapter of Boyal Arch Masons, for instance, is not, and can- 
not be recognized as a masonic body, by a lodge of Master Masons. 
"They hear them so to be, but they do not know them so to be," 
by any of the modes of recognition known to masonry. The 
acts, therefore, of a Chapter, cannot be recognized by a Master 
Mason's lodge, any more than the acts of a literary or charitable 
society wholly unconnected with the order. Again. By the 
present organization of Freemasonry, Grand Lodges are the 
supreme masonic tribunals. If, therefore, expulsion from a 
Chapter of Boyal Arch Masons involved expulsion from a Blue 
lodge, the right of the Grand Lodge to hear and determine causes, 
and to regulate the internal concerns of the Institution, would be 
interfered with by another body beyond its control. But the con- 
verse of this proposition does not hold good. Expulsion from a 
Blue lodge involves expulsion from all the higher degrees. 
Because, as they are composed of Blue Masons, the members 
could not of right sit and hold communications on masonic subjects 
with one who was an expelled Mason. 

EXTENT OF THE LODGE. Boundless is the extent of a 
Mason's lodge — in height to the topmost heaven; in depth to the 
central abyss; in length from east to west; in breadth from 
north to south. Thus extensive is the limit of masonry, and 
thus extensive should be a Mason's charity. See more on this 
subject in the article Form of the Lodge. 



152 FAI— FEL 



FAITH. The lowest round in the theological ladder, and 
hence symbolically instructing us that the first step in masonry, 
the first, the essential qualification of a candidate, is faith in God. 

In the lecture of the E.\ A.-, it is said that "Faith may be 
lost in sight ; Hope ends in fruition ; but Charity extends beyond 
the grave, through the boundless realms of eternity." And this 
is said, because as faith is " the evidence of things not seen," 
when we see we no longer believe by faith but through demonstra- 
tion, and as hope lives only in the expectation of possession, it 
ceases to exist when the object once hoped for is at length enjoyel, 
but charity, exercised on earth in acts of mutual kindness and 
forbearance, is still found in the world to come, in the sublimer 
form of mercy from God to his erring creatures. 

FEAST, ANNUAL. The convocation of the craft togethei 
at an annual feast, for the laudable purpose of promoting social 
feelings, and cementing the bonds of brotherly love by the inter- 
change of courtesies, is a time-honored custom, which is still, 
and we trust, will ever be observed. At this meeting, no business 
of any kind, except the installation of officers, should be transacted, 
and the day must be passed in innocent festivity. The election 
of officers always takes place at a previous meeting, in obedience 
to a regulation adopted by the Grand Lodge of England, in 1720, 
as follows: "It was agreed, in order to avoid disputes on the 
annual feast day, that the new Grand Master for the future shall 
be named and proposed to the Grand Lodge, some time before the 
feast." See Anderson, Const, p. 200. 

FEELING. One of the five human senses, and, for well-known 
reasons, in great estimation among Masons. 

FELLOW-CRAFT. Oompagnon. The second degree of an- 



FES 153 

cient craft masonry. It is particularly devoted to science. As 
in the first degree, those lessons are impressed, of morality and 
brotherly love, which should eminently distinguish the youthful 
apprentice; so in the second, is added that extension of knowledge, 
which enabled the original craftsmen to labor with ability and 
success, at the construction of the Temple. In the degree of 
Entered Apprentice, every emblematical ceremony is directed to 
the lustration of the heart; in that of Fellow-Craft, to the en- 
largement of the mind. Already clothed in the white garment 
of innocence, the advancing candidate is now invested with the 
deep and unalterable truths of science. At length he passes the 
porch of the Temple, and in his progress to the middle chamber 
is taught the ancient and unerring method of distinguishing a 
friend from a foe. His attention is directed to the wonders of 
nature and art, and the differences between operative and specula- 
tive masonry are unfolded, until by instruction and contemplation 
he is led to view with r<! verence and admiration the glorious works 
of the creation, and is inspired with the most exalted ideas of the 
perfections of his Divine Creator. 

FESSLER'S RITE. A rite formerly practised by the Grand 
Lodge " Royal York a 1' Amitie" at Berlin. It consisted of nine 
degrees, viz: 1, Apprentice; 2, Fellow-Craft; 3, Master; 4, 
Holy of Holies; 5, Justification; 6, Celebration; 7, True light; 
8, Fatherland; 9, Perfection. They were drawn up, says Clavel, 
from the rituals of the Golden Rose Croix, of the rite of Strict 
Observance, of the Illuminated Chapter of Sweden, and the An- 
cient Chapter of Clermont at Paris. They are now practised by 
but few lodges, having been abandoned by the Grand Lodge 
which established them, for the purpose of adopting the ancient 
York rite under the Constitutions of England.* 

FESTIVALS. The masonic festivals most generally cele- 



* Fessler's rite is perhaps th ; most abstrusely learned and philosophical ol 
nil the rites. 



154 FID— FIN 

brated, are those of St. John the Baptist, June 24, and St. John 
the Evangelist, December 27. These are the days kept in this 
country. Such, too, was formerly the case in England, but the 
annual festival of the Grand Lodge of England now falls on the 
Wednesday following St. George's day, April 23, that Saint 
being the patron of England. For a similar reason, St. Andrew's 
day, November 30, is kept by the Grand Lodge of Scotland. 

FIDES. Fidelity; to which virtue, the ancients paid divine 
honours, under the name of the goddess of faith, oaths, and 
honesty. The oaths taken in the name of this goddess were held 
to be more inviolable than any others. Numa was the first who 
built temples, and erected altars to the goddess Fides or Fidelity. 
No animals were killed, and no blood shed in her sacrifices. The 
priests who celebrated them were clothed in white, and were con- 
ducted with much pomp to the place of sacrifice, in chariots, 
having their whole bodies and hands enveloped in their capacious 
mantles. Fidelity was generally represented among the ancients 
by two right hands joined, or by two human figures holding each 
other by the right hand. Horace calls incorruptible Fidelity the 
sister of Justice, and Cicero makes them identical ) those principles 
of Justice, says he, which, when exercised toward God, are termed 
Religion, and toward our parents, Piety, in matters of trust are 
called Fidelity.* 

FINANCES. The finances of the lodges are placed under 
the charge of the Treasurer, who only pays them out on the order 
of the Master, and with the consent of the brethren, previously 
expressed in open lodge. By an unwritten law, the finances 
should be first received by the Secretary, who then pays them 
over to the Treasurer, taking his receipt for the same. A mutual 
check is thus kept on each other by these officers. 

* Justitia erga Deos rcligio, erga parentes pietas, creditis in rebus fidei 

Goininatur. — Orat. 78; 



FIN— FIV 155 

FINES. Fines for non-attendance or neglect of duty, are not 
usually imposed in masonic bodies, because each member is bound 
to the discharge of these duties by a motive more powerful than 
any that could be furnished by a pecuniary penalty. The im- 
position of such a penalty would be a tacit acknowledgment of 
the inadequacy of that motive, and would hence detract from its 
solemnity and its binding nature. 

FIVE. One of the sacred numbers of Freemasonry. Its 
symbolic properties are many and curious. It is formed by a 
combination of the Duad with the Triad, of the first even number 
with (excluding unity) the first odd one, 2 -j- 3. In the school 
of Pythagoras, it represented Light, and among his disciples a 
triple triangle, forming the outline of a five pointed star, was an 
emblem of health, because being alternately conjoined within 
itself, it constitutes a figure of five lines. Among the Cabbalists, 
the same figure, with the name of God written on each of its 
points, and in the centre, was considered talismanic. The number 
five was among the Hebrews a sacred round number, and is re- 
'peatedly used as such in the Old Testament, as, for example^ in 
Genesis xliii. 34, xlv. 22, xlvii. 2, Isaiah xvii. 6, xix. 18, xxx. 
17. " This usage," says Gesenius, " perhaps passed over to the 
Hebrews from the religious rites of Egypt, India, and othei 
oriental nations ) among whom five minor planets and five elements, 
and elementary powers, were accounted sacred." Among Free- 
masons, five is more particularly symbolical of the five orders of 
architecture, and the five human senses, but still more especially 
of the Five Points of Fellowship. 

FIVE POINTS OF FELLOWSHIP. Masons owe certain 
duties of brotherly love and fellowship to each other, the practice 
of which, as the distinguishing principles of our order, are incul- 
cated by the Master in the most impressive manner. 

First. Indolence should not cause our footsteps to halt, or wrath 
turn them aside, but with eager alacrity and swiftness of foot, we 



156 FIV— FLO 

should press forward in the exercise of charity and kindness to a 
distressed fellow-creature. 

Secondly. In our devotions to Almighty God, we should re- 
member a brother's welfare as our own, for the prayers of a fer- 
vent and sincere heart will find no less favour in the sight of hea- 
ven, because the petition for self is mingled with aspirations of 
benevolence for a friend. 

Thirdly. When a brother intrusts to our keeping the secret 
thoughts of his bosom, prudence and fidelity should place a 
sacred seal upon our lips, lest, in an unguarded moment, we be- 
tray the solemn trust confided to our honour. 

Fourthly. When adversity has visited our brother, and his 
calamities call for our aid, we should cheerfully and liberally 
Btretch forth the hand of kindness, to save him from sinking, 
and to relieve his necessities. 

Fifthly. While with candour and kindness we should admonish 
a brother of his faults, we should never revile his charact( r be 
hind his back, but rather, when attacked by others, support ana 
defend it. 

FIVE SENSES. The five human senses, which are, Hearing, 
Seeing, Feeling, Smelling, and Tasting, are dilated on in the lec- 
ture of the Fellow Crafts' degree. See each word in its appro- 
priate place in this Lexicon. 

FLOATS. Pieces of timber, made fast together with rafters, 
for conveying burdens down a river with the stream. — Bailey 
The use of these floats in the building of the temple is thus de- 
scribed in the letter of King Hiram to Solomon : "Arid we will 
cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need ; and we 
will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou shall 
carry it up to Jerusalem." — 2 Citron, ii. 16. 

FLOORING. A frame-work of board or canvas, on which 
the emblems of any particular degree are inscribed, for the assist- 



FOR 



157 



ance of the Master in giving a lecture. It is so called, because 
formerly it was the custom to inscribe these designs on the floor 
of the lodge room in chalk, which was wiped out when the lodge 
was closed. It is the same as the " Carpet," or "Tracing Board." 

FORM OF THE LODGE. The form of the lodge is said to 
be an oblong square, having its greatest length from east to west, 
and its greatest breadth from north to south. According to 
Oliver, the form of the lodge ought to be a double cube, as an 
expressive emblem of the united powers of darkness and light in 
the creation, and because the ark of the covenant and the altar 
of incense were both of that figure. But these two theories of 
its form are not inconsistent with each other, for, taken in its 
solid dimensions, the lodge is a double cube, while its surface is 
a paiallelogram or oblong square. 

This oblong form of the lodge has, I think, a symboli? allu- 
sion, which has not been heretofore adverted to, so far as I am 
aware, by any masonic writer. 

Tf, on a map of the world, we draw lines which shall circum- 
scribe just that portion which was known and inhabited at 
the time of the building of Solomon's temple, these lines, run- 
ning a short distance north and south of the Mediterranean Sea, 
and extending from Spain to Asia Minor, will form an oblong 
square, whose greatest length will be from east to west, and whose 
greatest breadth will be from north to south, as is shown in the 
annexed diagram. 

North. 







Inhabited parts of Europe. 






> 






West. 


> 

H 

3 


Mediterranean Sea. 


PS 
c 




O 
a 

> 


Inhabited parts of Africa. 


< 

v. 

< 



East. 



14 



158 FOR 

The oblong square which thus enclosed the whole habitable 
part of the globe, would represent the form of the lodge to denote 
the universality of masonry, since the world constitutes the lodge; 
a doctrine that has since been taught in that expressive sentence : 
In every clime the Mason may find a home, and in every land a 
brother. 

FORTITUDE. One of the four cardinal virtues, whose ex- 
cellencies are dilated on in the first degree. It not only instructs 
the worthy Mason to bear the ills of life with becoming resigna. 
tion, "taking up arms against a sea of trouble, " but, by its inti- 
mate connection with a portion of our ceremonies, it teaches him 
to let no dangers shake, no pains dit-olve the inviolable fidelity 
he owes to the trusts reposed in him. 

FORTY-SEVENTH PROBLEM. The forty-seventh problem 
of Euclid's first book, which has been adopted as an emblem in 
the Master's degree, is thus enunciated. "In any right angled 
triangle, the square which is described upon the side subtending 
the right angle, is equal to the squares described upon the sides 
which contain the right angle. " This interesting problem, on 
account of its great utility in making calculations, and drawing 
plans for buildings, is sometimes called the "carpenter's theorem. " 

For the demonstration of this problem, the world is indebted 
to Pythagoras, who, it is said, was so elated after making the 
discovery, that he made an offering of a hecatomb, or a sacrifice 
of a hundred oxen to the gods.* The devotion to learning 
which this religious act indicated, in the mind of the ancient 
philosopher, has induced Masons to adopt the problem as a me- 
mento, instructing them to be lovers of the arts and sciences. 

The triangle, whose base is 4 parts, whose perpendicular is 



* The well-known aversion of Pythagoras to the shedding of blood has led 
to the supposition that the sacrifice consisted of small oxen, made of wax, and 
jot of living animals. 



FOE 159 

3, and whose hypothenuse is 5, and which would exactly serve 
for a demo, itration of this problem,* was, according to Plutarch, 
a symbol frequently employed by the Egyptian priests, and hence 
it is called by M. Jomard,f the Egyptian triangle. It was, with 
the Egyptians, the symbol of universal nature, the base repre- 
senting Osiris, or the male principle, the perpendicular, Isis, or 
the female principle, and the hypothenuse, Horns, their son, or 
the produce of the two principles. They added that 3 was the 
first perfect odd number, that 4 was the square of 2, the first 
even number, and that 5 was the result of 3 and 2. 

But the Egyptians made a still more important use of this 
triangle. It was the standard of all their measures of extent, 
and was applied by them to the building of the pyramids. The 
researches of M. Jomard, on the Egyptian system of measures, 
published in the magnificent work of the French savans on 
Egypt, has placed us completely in possession of the uses made by 
the Egyptians of this forty-seventh problem of Euclid, and of the 
triangle which formed the diagram by which it was demonstrated. 

If we inscribe within a circle a triangle, whose perpendicular 
shall be 300 parts, whose base shall be 400 parts, and whose 
hypothenuse shall be 500 parts, which of course bear the same 
proportion to each other as 3, 4 and 5 ) then, if we let a perpen- 
dicular fall from the angle of the perpendicular and base to the 
hypothenuse, and extend it through the hypothenuse to the 
circumference of the circle, this chord or line will be equal to 
480 parts, and the two segments of the hypothenuse, on each 
side of it, will be found equal, respectively, to 180 and 320. 
From the point where this chord intersects the hypothenuse, let 
another line fall perpendicularly to the shortest side of the tri- 



* For the square of the hase is 4 x 4, or 16, the square of the perpendicu- 
lar is 3 X 3, or 9, and the square of the hypothenuse is 5 x 5, or 25 ; but 25 is 
tho sum of 9 and 16, and therefore the square of the longest side is equal to 
the sum of the squares of the other two, which is the forty-seventh problem of 
Euclid. 

f In his " Expa ution du Systeme Metrique des Anciens Egyptiens. 5, 



100 FRE 

angle, and this line will be equal to 144 parts, while the shorter 
segment, formed by its junction with the perpendicular side of the 
triangle, will be equal to 108 parts. Hence, we may derive the 
following measures from the diagram : 500, 480, 400, 320, 180, 
144, and 108, and all these without the slightest fraction. Sup- 
posing, then, the 500 to be cubits, we have the measure of the 
base of the great pyramid of Memphis. In the 400 cubits of 
the base of the triangle, we have the exact length of the Egyp- 
tian stadium. The 320 give us the exact number of Egyptian 
cubits contained in the Hebrew and Babylonian stadium. The 
stadium of Ptolemy is represented by the 480 cubits, or length 
of the line falling from the right angle to the circumference of 
the circle, through the hypothenuse. The number 180, which 
expresses the smaller segment of the hypothenuse, being doubled, 
will give 360 cubits, which will be the stadium of Cleomedes. 
By doubling the 144, the result will be 288 cubits, or the length 
of the stadium of Archimedes, and by doubling the 108, we pro- 
duce 216 cubits, or the precise value of the lesser Egyptian stadium. 
In this manner, we obtain from this triangle all the measures of 
length that were in use among the Egyptians; and since this tri- 
angle, whose sides are equal to 3, 4, and 5, was the very one that 
most naturally would be used in demonstrating the forty-seventh 
problem of Euclid; and since by these three sides the Egyptians 
symbolized Osiris, Isis, and Horus, or the two producers and the pro- 
duct, the very principle, expressed in symbolic language, which con- 
stitutes the terms of the problem as enunciated by Pythagoras, that 
the sum of the squares of the two sides will produce the square 
of the third, we have no reason to doubt that the forty-seventh 
problem was perfectly known to the Egyptian priests, and by 
them communicated to Pythagoras. 

FPvEE BORN. The constitutions of our order require that 
every candidate shall be free born. And this is necessary, for, 
as admission into the fraternity involves a solemn contract, no 
one can bind himself to its performance who is not the mastei 



FEE 161 

of his own actions; nor can the man of servile condition or 
slavish mind be expected to perform his masonic duties with that 
" freedom, fervency, and zeal," which the laws of our institution 
require. Neither, according to the authority of Dr. Oliver,* 
" can any one, although he have been initiated, continue to act 
as a Mason, or practise the rites of the order, if he be tempora- 
rily deprived of his liberty or freedom of will." On this subject, 
the Grand Lodge of England, on the occasion of certain Masons 
having4)een made in the King's Bench prison, passed a special 
resolution in November, 1783, declaring " That it is inconsistent 
with the principles of masonry for any Freemason's lodge to be 
'held, for the purpose of making, passing, or raising Masons, in 
any prison or place of confinement.""!" 

The same usage existed in the spurious Freemasonry of the 
ancient mysteries, where slaves could not be initiated, the re- 
quisites for initiation being that a man must be a free-born deni- 
zen of the country, as well as of irreproachable morals. 

FREEMASON. The word "free," in connection with " Ma- 
son/' originally signified that the person so called was free of 
the company or guild of incorporated Masons. For those opera- 
tive Masons who were not thus made free of the guild, were not 
permitted to work with those who were. A similar regulation 
still exists in many parts of Europe, although it is not known to 
this country. The term appears to have been first thus used in 
the tenth century, when the travelling Freemasons were incorpo- 
rated by the Roman Pontiff. See Travelling Freemasons. 

FREEMASONRY. "A beautiful system of morality, veiled 
in allegory, and illustrated by symbols." To this sublime defini- 
tion of our order, borrowed from the lectures of our English 
brethren, and prefixed by Dr. Oliver, as a motto to one of hi? 



* Historical Landmarks, i. 110 

f Minutes of the Grand Lodge, quoted by Oliver, ut supra. 
14* 



162 FRE 

most interesting works, I shall take the liberty of adding an ex- 
position of its principles from the pen of De Witt Clinton, as 
pure a patriot as ever served his country, and as bright a Mason 
as ever honoured the fraternity. 

" Although," says he, "the origin of our fraternity is covered 
with darkness, and its history is, to a great extent, obscure, yet 
we can confidently say, that it is the most ancient society in the 
world — and we are equally certain that its principles are based 
on pure morality — that its ethics are the ethics of Christianity- — 
its doctrines, the doctrines of patriotism and brotherly love — and 
its sentiments, the sentiments of exalted benevolence. Upon 
these points, there can be no doubt. All that is good, and kind 
and charitable, it encourages ; all that is vicious, and cruel, and 
oppressive, it reprobates."* 

FRENCH RITE. Rite Frangau ou moderne. The French 

or Modern rite is one of the three principal rites of Freemasonry. 
It consists of seven degrees, three symbolic and four higher, viz. 
1. Apprentice; 2. Fellow Craft; 3. Master; 4. Elect; 5. 
Scotch Master; 6. Knight of the East; 7. Rose Croix. This 
rite is practised in France, in Brazil, and in Louisiana. It was 
founded in 1786, by the Grand Orient of France, who, unwilling 
to destroy entirely the high degrees which were then practised 
by the different rites, and yet anxious to reduce them to a smaller 
number, and to greater simplicity, extracted these degrees out 
of the rite of Perfection, making some few slight modifications. 
Most of the authors who have treated of this rite have given to 
its symbolism an entirely astronomical meaning, Among these 
writers, we may refer to Ragon, in his " Cours Philosophique," 
as probably the most scientific. 



* Address at the Installation of Grand Master Van Renssellaer, Now York, 
1852. 



FUN— FUR ltfi 

FUNERAL RITES. None but Master Masons can be in- 
terred with the funeral honours of masonry, and even then the 
performance of the service is subjected to certain unalterable re- 
strictions. No Mason can be buried with the formalities of the 
order, except by his own request, preferred, while living, to the 
Master of the lodge of which he was a member, strangers and 
the higher officers of the order excepted. No public procession 
can take place, nor can two or more lodges assemble for this pur- 
pose, until a dispensation has been granted by the Grand Master. 
The ceremonies practised on the interment of a brother are to be 
found in all the Monitors. It is unnecessary, therefore, to specify 
them here. 

' FURNITURE OF A LODGE. Every well-regulated lodge 
must contain a Bible, square, and compasses, which are technically 
said to constitute its furniture, and which are respectively dedicated 
to God, the Master of the lodge, and the Craft. Our English 
brethren differ from us in their explanation of the furniture. 
Oliver gives their illustration, from the English lectures, as follows • 
" The Bible is said to derive from God to man in general, 
because the Almighty has been pleased to reveal more of his 
divine will by that holy book, than by any other means. The 
compasses being the chief implement used in the construction of 
all architectural plans and designs, are assigned to the Grand 
Master in particular, as emblems of his dignity, he being the 
chief head and ruler of the craft. The square is given to the 
whole masonic body, because we are all obligated within it, and 
are consequently bound to act thereon." 



L64 GAV 

G. 

GAVEL. The common gavel is one of the working tools of 
an Entered Apprentice. It is made use of by the operative 
Mason to break off the corners of the rough ashlar, and thus fit 
it the better for the builder's use, and is therefore adopted as a 
symbol in speculative masonry, to admonish us of the duty of 
divesting our minds and consciences of all the vices and impurities 
of life, thereby fitting our bodies as living stones for that spiritual 
building not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 

Hence, too, we see the propriety of adopting the gavel as the 
instrument for maintaining order in the lodge. For, as the lodge 
is an imitation of the temple, and each member represents a stone 
thereof, so, by the iufluence of the gavel, all the ebullitions of 
temper, and the indecorum of frivolity are restrained, as the 
material sto.ies of that building were, by the same instrument, 
divested of their asperities and imperfections. 

In the first edition of this work, I confessed myself at a loss 
for the derivation of the word "gavel." I have, however, no 
longer any doubt that it borrows its name from its shape, being 
that of the gable or gavel end of a house, and this word again 
comes from the German gipfel, a summit, top, or peak, — the idea 
of a pointed extremity being common to all. 

In the name, as well as the application of this implement, 
error has crept into the customs of the lodges. The implement 
employed by many Masters is not a gavel, but a mallet, (the 
French Masons, in fact, make use of the word " maillet,") and is 
properly not one of the working tools of an E.\ A.-., but a repre- 
sentation of the setting-maul, one of the emblems of the third 
degree. The. two implements and the two names are entirely 
distinct, and should never be confounded; and I am surprised to 
see so learned a Mason as Brother Oliver, falling into this too 




GEN 165 

usual error, and speaking of " the common gavel or setting-maul/ ' 
as synonymous terms.* 

The true form of the gavel is that of the stone-mason's hammer- 
It is to be made with a cutting edge, as in the annexed engraving, 
that it may be used " to break off the corners of rough stones/' 
an operation which could never be effected by the common 

hammer or mallet. The gavel, thus 
shaped, will give, when looked at in 
front, the exact representation of the 
gavel or gable end of a house, whence, 
as I have already said, the name is 
derived. 

The gavel of the Master is also called a " Hiram/' for a reason 
which will lie explained under that word. 

GENERALISSIMO. The second officer in a Commandery 
of Knights Templars, and one of its representatives in the Grand 
Commandery. His duty is to receive and communicate all orders, 
signs, and petitions ; to assist the Eminent Commander, and, in 
his absence, to preside over the Commandery. His station is on 
the right of the Eminent Commander, and his jewel is a square, 
surmounted by a paschal lamb. 

GENUFLEXION. Bending the knees has, in all ages of 
the world, been considered as an act of reverence and humility, 
and hence Pliny, the Roman naturalist, observes, that " a certain 
degree of religious reverence is attributed to the knees of man." 
Solomon placed himself in this position when he prayed at the 
consecration of the tern-pie, and Masons use the same posture in 
some portions of their ceremonies, as a token of solemn reverence. 

* In my labours, as Grand Lecturer of South-Carolina, I have succeeded, in 
many instances, in correcting this error, and placing the common gavel in the 
hsnds of the Master and Wardens, for the government of the lodge, while the 
mallet or setting-maul remains in the archives of the lodge, to be used only aa 
an emblem of the third degree. 



166 . GEO 

GEUMETRY. Geometry is defined to be that science which 
teaches the nature and relations of whatever is capable of measure- 
ment. It is one of the oldest and most necessary of sciences ; is 
that upon which the whole doctrine of mathematics is founded, 
and is so closely connected with the practice of operative masonry, 
that our ancient brethren were as often called geometricians as 
Masons. It was, indeed, in such great repute among the wise 
men of antiquity, that Plato placed over the portals of the academy 
this significant inscription : Oodstq dyeo}/j.hpT]roi; elffirio, "Let 
none enter icho is ignorant of geometry. " 

The first inhabitants of the earth must have practised the 
simplest principles of geometry in the construction of even the 
rude huts which were intended to shelter them from the in- 
clemencies of the weather; and afterward, when they began to 
unite in communities, and to exercise the right of property in 
lands, this science must have been still further developed, as a 
necessary means of measuring and distinguishing each person's 
particular domain. Land-surveying, indeed, seems to have been 
the most important purpose to which geometry was originally 
applied : a fact warranted also by the derivation of the word, whose 
roots, in the Greek language, signify " a measure of the earth. " 
But as operative masonry and architecture improved, and, in the 
construction of edifices, elegance was added to strength, and or- 
nament to utility, geometry began, too, to oe extended in its 
principles, and perfected in its system. The Egyptians were 
undoubtedly one of the first nations who cultivated geometry as 
a science. " It was not less useful and necessary to them," as 
Goguet observes,* " in the affairs of life, than agreeable to their 
speculatively philosophical genius." From Egypt, which was the 
parent both of the sciences and the mysteries of the Pagan world, 
it passed over into other countries, and geometry and operative 
masonry have ever been found together, the latter carrying into 

*L'Orig. des Lois, t. i., liv. iii. 



GEO— GIB 167 

execution those designs which were first traced according to the 
principles of the former. 

Speculative masonry is, in like manner, intimately connected 
with geometry. In deference to our operative ancestors, and, in 
fact, as a necessary result of our close connection with them, 
speculative Freemasonry derives its most important emblems from 
this parent science. As the earthly temple was constructed un- 
der the correcting application of the plumb, the level, and the 
square, by which its lines and angles were properly admeasured, 
so we are accustomed, in the construction of the great moral edi- 
fice of our minds, symbolically to apply the same instruments, in 
order to exhibit our work on the great day of inspection as "true 
and trusty." 

The explanation of the principal geometrical figures given by 
Pythagoras, may be interesting to the masonic student. Accord- 
ing to the Grecian sage, the point is represented by unity, the 
line by the duad, the surface by the ternary, and the solid by 
the quarternary. The circle, he says, is the most perfect t f cur- 
vilinear figures, containing the triangle in a concealed manner. 
The triangle is the principle of the generation and formation ot 
bodies, because all bodies are reducible to this figure, and the ele- 
ments are triangular. The square is the symbol of the divine 
essence. 

GIBALIM OR GIBLIM. These were the inhabitants of the 
Phenician city of Gebal, called by the Greeks Byblos. The Phe- 
nician word,^?3J|, "gebal," (of which Q*73J), "gibaliui," or "gib- 
lim," is the plural,) signifies a Mason, or stone-squarer. Gesenius* 
says, that the inhabitants of Gebal were seamen and builders; and 
Sir William Drummond asserts that "the Gibalim were Master 
Masons, who put the finishing hand to Solomon's temple. "f 



* Heb. Lex. in voc. 

j- Origines, vol. iii., b. v., ch. iv., p. 192. 



1G8 GLO— GOD 

GLOBE. In the Egyptian mysteries, the globe was a symbol 
of the Supreme and Eternal God. Among the Mexicans, it re- 
presented universal power. Among Freemasons, the globes, 
celestial and terrestrial, are emblems of the universal extension 
of the institution, and remind us also of the extensive claims of 
that charity we are called on to practise. 

G-LOVES. White gloves form a part of a Freemason's cos- 
tume, and should always be worn in the lodge* An instance of 
the antiquity of this dress is given in this work, under the article 
" Clothed." In an institution so symbolical as ours, it is not 
unreasonable to suppose that the white gloves are to remind us, 
that " without a pure heart and clean hands," no one can "stand 
in the holy place." And this is the emblematic use of the gloves 
in the French rite, where every Apprentice, on his initiation, is 
presenter with two pair, one for himself, and one for his wife 01 
mistress. 

GOD. Freemasons have always been worshippers of the one 
true God. " This," says Hutchinson,f " was the first and corner- 
stone on which our originals thought it expedient to place the 
foundation of masonry." While the world around them was 
polluted with sun-worship, and brute-worship, and all the absurdi- 
ties of polytheism, masonry, even in its spurious forms, as the 
ancient mysteries have appropriately been styled, was alone occu- 
pied in raising altars to the one I AM, and declaring and teaching 
the unity of the Godhead. Josephus, in his defence of the Jews 
against Apion, sums up in a few words this doctrine of the myste- 
ries, and its conformity with the Jewish belief, which was, of course, 
identical with that of the Freemasons. " God, perfect and blessed, 
contains all things, is self-existent and the cause of existence to 
all, the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things. "t 

* I regret t: aay, that this rule is too much neglected ; n our Aincricoc 
lodges. 

f Spirit of Masonry, p 6. 

X Joseph, contra Ap., 1 b. ii., cap. 2. 



GOL— GRA 169 

GOLGOTHA. A Hebrew word, signifying " a skull." It was 
the name given by the Jews to Mount Calvary, where Christ was 
crucified, and where his sepulchre was situated. 

GOTHIC CONSTITUTIONS. Those regulations of the 
craft, which were adopted in 926, at the General Assembly in 
the city of York, under Prince Edwin, and to which additions 
were made from time to time, at other annual assemblies of the 
fraternity, are called the Gothic Constitutions, from the fact that 
they were written in the old Gothic character. Several copies of 
them were in existence at the revival of masonry in 1717. In 
1721, they were digested by Dr. Anderson, in a new and better 
method, and form the foundation of the Book of Constitutions, 
the first edition of which was published in 1722. 

GOOD SAMARITAN. See Samaritan. 

GRAMMAR. One -of the seven liberal arts and sciences, 
which forms, with Logic and Rhetoric, a triad, dedicated to the 
cultivation of language. " God," says Sanctius, "created man 
the participant of reason ; and as he willed him to be a social 
being, he bestowed upon him the gift of language, in the perfect- 
ing of which there are three aids. The first is Grammar, which 
rejects from language all solecisms and barbarous expressions; 
the second is Logic, which is occupied with the truthfulness of 
language ; and the third is Rhetoric, which seeks only the adorn- 
ment of language."* 

GRAND HONOURS. See Honours. 

GRAND INQUISITOR. Grand inspecteur-inquisiteur-com- 
mandeur. The 31st degree of the Ancient Scotch rite. It is 
not a historical degree, but simply administrative in its cha- 



* Sanct. Minut., lib. I, cap. 2, apud Harris, Hermes. -I. c. i. 
15 



170 GRA 

racter, — the duties of the members being to examine and regulate 
the proceedings of the inferior lodges and chapters. Its place 
of meeting is called a tribunal, its decorations are white, and its 
presiding officer is called a President, who is elected for life. 

GRAND LODGES, HISTORY OF. The present organiza- 
tion of Grand Lodges is by no means coeval with the origin of 
our institution. Every lodge was originally independent; and a 
sufficient number of brethren meeting together, were empowered 
to practise all the rights of masonry without a warrant of con- 
stitution. This privilege, as Preston remarks, was inherent in 
them as individuals. The brethren were in the custom of meet- 
ing annually, at least as many as conveniently could, for the pur- 
pose of conference on the general concerns of the order, and on 
this occasion a Grand Master, or superintendent of the whole 
fraternity, was usually chosen. These meltings were not, how- 
ever, called Grand Lodges, but "Assemblies/' This name and 
organization are as old as the fourth century of the Christian 
era; for, in a MS.* once in the possession of Nicholas Stone, a 
sculptor under the celebrated Inigo Jones, it is stated that " St 
Albans (who was martyred in 806) loved Masons well, and 
cherished them much ****. And he got them a charter from the 
king and his counsell, for to holde a generall counsel and gave itt 
to name Asseniblie." The privilege of attending these annual 
assemblies was not restricted, as it now is, to the Grand Officers, 
and Masters, and Wardens of subordinate lodges, but constituted 
one of the obligatory duties of every Mason. Thus, among the 
ancient masonic charges, in possession of the Lodge of Antiquity, 
at London, is one which declares that " every Master and Fellow 
shall come to the assemblie, if itt be within fifty miles of him, and 
if he have any warning. And if he have trespassed the craft, 
to abide the award of Masters and Fellows." 

* Qnotod by Pftoston. 



GRA 171 

England. The next* charter granted in England to the Masons, 
as a body, was bestowed by King Athelstane, in 926, upon the 
application of his brother, Prince Edwin. " Accordingly, Prince 
Edwin summoned all the Masons in the realm to meet him in a 
congregation at York, who came and composed a General Lodge, 
of which he was Grand Master ; and haying brought with them 
all the writings and records extant, some in Greek, some in Latiu, 
some in French, and other languages, from the contents thereof 
that assembly did frame the constitution and charges of an En- 
glish lodge. "•(• 

From this assembly at York, the true rise of masonry in Eng- 
land is generally dated; from the statutes there enacted, are 
derived the English Masonic Constitutions ; and from the place 
i)f meeting, the ritual of the English lodges is designated as the 
" Ancient York Rite." 

For a long time, the York assembly exercised the masonic 
jurisdiction over all England ; but, in 1567, the Masons of the 
southern part of the island elected Sir Thomas Gresham, the 
celebrated merchant, their Grand Master. He was succeeded 
by the illustrious architect, Inigo Jones. There were now two 
Grand Masters in England who assumed distinctive titles ; the 
Grand Master of the north being called Grand Master of all 
England, while he who presided in the south was called Grand 
Master of England. 

In the beginning of the 18th century, masonry in the south 
of England had fallen into decay. The disturbances of the re- 
volution, which placed William III. on the throne, and the subse- 
quent warmth of political feelings which agitated the two parties 
of the state, had given this peaceful society a wound fatal to its 
success. Sir Christopher Wren, the Grand Master in the reign 
of Queen Anne, had become aged, infirm, and inactive, and 
hence the general assemblies of the Grand Lodge had ceased to 

* And if the anecdote of St. Albans be not authentic, the fiist 
f Elias Ash mole's MS. 



172 GRA 

take place. There were, in the year 1715, but four lodges in 
the south of England, all working in the city of London. 
These four lodges, desirous of reviving the prosperity of the 
order, determined to unite themselves under a Grand Master, 
Sir Christopher Wren being now dead, and none having, as yet, 
been appointed in his place. They, therefore, "met at the 
Apple tree tavern ; and having put into the chair the oldest Mas- 
ter Mason, (being the Master of a lodge,) they constituted them- 
selves a Grand Lodge, pro tempore, in due form, and forthwith 
revived the quarterly communication of the officers of lodges, 
(called the Grand Lodge,) resolved to hold the annual assembly 
and feast, and then to choose a Grand Master from among them- 
selves, till they should have the honour of a noble brother at 
their head."* 

Accordingly, on St. John the Baptist's day, 1717, the annual 
assembly and feast were held, and Mr. Anthony Sayer duly 
proposed and elected Grand Master. The Grand Lodge adopted, 
among its regulations, the following : " That the privilege of 
assembling as Masons, which had hitherto been unlimited, should 
be vested in certain lodges or assemblies of Masons, convened in 
certain places ; and that every lodge to be hereafter convened, 
except the four old lodges at this time existing, should be legally 
authorized to act by a warrant from the Grand Master, for the 
tim« being, granted to certain individuals by petition, with the 
consent and approbation of the Grand Lodge in communication, 
and that, without such warrant, no lodge should be hereafter 
deemed regular or constitutional." 

In compliment, however, to the four old lodges, the privileges 
which they had always possessed uuder the old organization were 
particularly reserved to them ; and it was enacted that " no law, 
rule, or regulation, to be hereafter made or passed in Grand 
Lodge, should ever deprive them of such privilege/)" or encroach 

* Anderson's Constitutions, p. 19* 

-J- Among these privileges, were these of assembling without a warrant of 
constitution, and raising Masons to the Master's degree, a power for a long 
time exercised only by the Grand LoJge. 



GRA 173 

on any landmark which was at that time established as the stand- 
ard of masonic government." 

The Grand Lodges of York and of London kept up a friendly 
intercourse, and mutual interchange of recognition, until the 
latter body, in 1725, granted a warrant of constitution to some 
Masons who had seceded from the former. This unmasonic act 
was severely reprobated by the York Grand Lodge, and produced 
the first interruption to the harmony that bad long subsisted be- 
tween tbem. It was, however, followed some years after by 
another unjustifiable act of interference. In 1725, the Earl of 
Crawford, Grand Master of England, constituted two lodges 
within the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of York, and granted, 
without its consent, deputations for Lancashire, Durham, and 
Northumberland. "This circumstance," says Preston, "the 
Grand Lodge at York highly reseated, and ever afterward 
viewed the proceedings of the brethren in the south with a jeal- 
ous eye. All friendly intercourse ceased, and the York Masons, 
from that moment, considered their interests distinct from the 
Masons under the Grand Lodge in London.* 

Three years after, in 1738, several brethren, dissatisfied with 
the conduct of the Grand Lodge of England, seceded from it, 
and held unauthorized meetings for the purpose of initiation. 
Taking advantage of the breach between the Grand Lodges of 
York and London, they assumed the character of York Masons. 
On the Grand Lodge's determination to put strictly in execution 
the laws against such seceders, they still further separated from 
its jurisdiction, and assumed the appellation of "Ancient York 
Masons." They announced that the ancient landmarks were 
a.lone preserved by them; and, declaring that the regular lodges 
had adopted new plans, and sanctioned innovations, they branded 
them with the name of "Modern Masons." In 1739, thev 
established a new Grand Lodge in London, under the name of 
the "Grand Lodge-of Ancient York Masons/' and, persevering 



* Preston's Illustrations, p. 1S-1. 
1 •") * 



174 GRA 

in the measures they had adopted, held communications and 
appointed annual feasts. They were soon afterward recognized 
by the Masons of Scotland and Ireland, and were encouraged 
and fostered by many of the nobility. The two Grand Lodges 
continued to exist, and to act in opposition to each other, extend- 
ing their schisms into other countries,* until the year 1813, 
when, under the Grand Mastership of the Duke of Sussex, they 
were happily united, and discord, we trust, forever banished from 
English Masonry. j- 

Scotland. Freemasonry was introduced into Scotland by the 
architects who built the Abbey of Kilwinning j and the village 
of that name bears the same relation to Scottish masonry, that 
the city of York does to English. Assemblies, for the general 
government of the craft, were frequently held at Kilwinning. 
In the reign of James II., the office of Grand Master of Scot- 
land was granted to William St. Clair, Earl of Orkney and 
Caithness, and Baron of Roslin, " his heirs and successors/' by 
the king's charter. J But, in 1736, the St. Clair who then exer- 
cised the Grand Mastership, " taking into consideration that his 
holding or claiming any such jurisdiction, right, or privilege, 
might be prejudicial to the craft and vocation of masonry," § re- 
nounced his claims, and empowered the Freemasons to choose 
their Grand Master. The consequence of this act of resignation 
was the immediate organization of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, 
over whom, for obvious reasons, the late hereditary Grand Master 
was unanimously called to preside. 

Ireland. In 1729, the Freemasons of Dublin held an assem- 
bly, and organized the "Grand Lodge of Ireland." The Earl 
of Kingston was elected the first Grand Master. 

* For instance, there were, originally, in Massachusetts and South Carolina, 
two Grand Lodges, claiming their authority from these discordant bodies. In 
the former State, however, they were united in 1792, and in the latter in 1817. 

f We may as well mention here, that the rites and ceremonies of these bodiep 
wore essentially the same,and that the landmarks were equally preserved by them. 

X See the MS. 'n the Edinburgh Advocates' Library, quoted by Lawrio. 

| See the deed f resignation in Lawrie's Hist. Masonry. 



3RA 175 

France. In the beginning of the 18th century, Freemasonry 
in France was in a state of great disorder. Every lodge acted 
independently of all others; the Masters were elected for life, 
and exercised the privileges and powers which are now confined 
to G-rand Lodges; there was no masonic centre, and consequently 
no masonic union. 

In 1735, there were six lodges in Paris, and several others in 
the different provincial towns. The Earl of Derwentwater, the 
celebrated Jacobite, who afterward was beheaded at London, for 
his adherence to the house of Stuart, exercised the functions of 
Grand Master by a tacit consent, although not ly a formal elec- 
tion. In the following year, Lord Harnouster was elected by 
the Parisian lodges Grand Master; and in 1738, he was suc- 
ceeded by the Due d'Antin. On his death, in 1743, the Count 
de Clermont was elected to supply his place. 

Organized Freemasonry in France dates its existence from this 
latter year. In 1735, the lodges of Paris had petitioned the Grand 
Lodge of England for the establishment of a Provincial Gra«nd 
Lodge, which, on political grounds, had been refused. In 1743, 
however, it was granted, and the Provincial G-rand Lodge of 
France was constituted under the name of the "Grand Loge 
Anglaise de France/' The Grand Master, Clermont, was, how- 
ever, an inefficient officer; anarchy and confusion once more in- 
vaded the fraternity; the authority of the Grand Lodge was pros- 
trated ; and the establishment of mother lodges in the provinces, 
with the original intention of superintending the proceedings of 
the distant provincial lodges, instead of restoring harmony, as 
was vainly expected, widened still more the breach. For, as- 
suming the rank, and exercising the functions, of Grand Lodges, 
they ceased all correspondence with the metropolitan body, and 
became in fact its rivals. 

Under these circumstances, the Grand Lodge declared itself 
independent of England in 1756, and assumed the title of the 
"Grand Lodge of France/' It recognized only the three de- 
grees of Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason, and was 



!76 GRA 

composed of the grand officers to be elected out of the body of 
the fraternity, and of the Masters for life of the Parisian lodges; 
thus formally excluding the provincial lodges from any partici- 
pation in the government of the craft. 

But the proceedings of this body were not less stormy than 
those of its predecessor. We have stated that the Count de 
Clermont proved an inefficient Grand Master. He had appointed, 
in succession, two deputies, both of whom had been displeasing 
to the fraternity. The last, Lacorne, was a man of such low 
origin and rude manners, that the Grand Lodge refused to meet 
him as their presiding officer. Irritated at this pointed disre- 
spect, he sought in the taverns of Paris those Masters who had 
made a traffic of initiations, but who, heretofore, had submitted 
to the control, and been checked by the authority, of the Grand 
Lodge. From among them he selected officers devoted to his 
service, and undertook a complete reorganization of the Grand 
Lodge. 

The retired members, however, protested against these illegal 
proceedings ; and in the subsequent year, the Grand Master con- 
sented to revoke the authority he had bestowed upon Lacorne, 
and appointed as his deputy, M. Chaillon de Jonville. The 
respectable members now returned to their seats in the Grand 
Lodge ; and in the triennial election which took place in June, 
1765, the officers who had been elected during the Deputy Grand 
Mastership of Lacorne were all removed. The displaced officers 
protested, and published a defamatory memoir on the subject, 
and were in consequence expelled from masonry by the Grand 
Lodge. Ill feeling on both sides was thus engendered, and car- 
ried to such a height, that, at one of the communications of the 
Grand Lodge, the expelled brethren, attempting to force their 
way in, were resisted with violence. The next day the lieutenant 
of police issued an edict, forbidding the future meetings of tin: 
Grand Lodge. 

The expelled party, however, still continued their meetings. 
The Count de Clermont died in 1771 : and the excluded brethren 



GRA 177 

having invited the Duke of Chartres, (afterwards Duke of Orleans,) 
to the Grand Mastership, he accepted the appointment. They 
now offered to unite with the Grand Lodge, on condition that 
the latter would revoke the decree of expulsion. The proposal 
was accepted, and the Grand Lodge went once more into 
operation. 

Another union took place, which has since considerably influ- 
enced the character of French masonry. During the troubles of 
the preceding years, masonic bodies were instituted in various 
parts of the kingdom, which professed to confer degrees, of a 
higher nature, than those belonging to craft masonry, and which 
have since been known by the name of the Ineffable degrees 
These chapters assumed a right to organize and control symbolic 
or blue lodges, and this assumption had been a fertile source of 
controversy between them and the Grand Lodge. By the latter 
body they had never been recognized, but the lodges under 
their direction had often been declared irregular, and their 
members expelled. They now, however, demanded a recognition, 
and proposed, if their request was complied with, to bestow the 
government of the "hauts grades" upon the same person who 
was at the head of the Grand Lodge, The compromise was made, 
the recognition was decreed, and the Duke of Chartres was 
elected Grand Master of all the councils, chapters, and Scotch 
odges of France. 

But peace was not yet restored. The party who had been ex- 
pelled, moved by a spirit of revenge for the disgrace formerly 
inflicted on them, succeeded in obtaining the appointment of a 
committee which was empowered to prepare a new constitution. 
All the lodges of Paris and the provinces were requested to 
appoint deputies, who were to form a convention to take the new 
constitution into consideration. This convention, or, as they 
called it, national assembly, met at Paris, in December, 1771. 
The Duke of Luxemburg presided, and on the 24th of that month, 
the ancient Grand Lodge of France was declared extinct, and in 
its place another substituted, with the title of Grand Orient de 
France. 



173 GRA 

Notwithstanding the declaration of extinction by the national 
assembly, the Granrl Lodge continued to meet and to exercise its. 
functions. Thus the fraternity of France continued to be hai 
rassed, by the bitter contentions of these rival bodies, until the 
commencement of the revolution compelled both the Grand 
Orient and the Grand Lodge to suspend their labours. 

On the restoration of civil order, both bodies resumed thei." 
operations, but the Grand Lodge had been weakened by the deatl 
of many of the perpetual Masters, who had originally been at- 
tached to it; and a better spirit arising, the Grand Lodge was, 
by a solemn and mutual declaration, united to the Grand Orieni 
on the 28th of June, 1799. 

Dissensions, however, continued to arise between the Grand 
Orient and the different chapters of the higher degrees. Several 
of those bodies had at various periods given in their adhesion to 
the Grand Orient, and again violated the compact of peace. 
Finally, the Grand Orient perceiving that the pretensions of the 
Scotch rite Masons would be a perpetual source of disorder, decreed 
on the 16th of September, 1805, that the Supreme Council of 
the 33d degree should thenceforth become an independent body, 
with the power to confer warrants of constitution for all the 
degrees superior to the 18th, or Rose Croix; while the chapters 
of that and the inferior degrees were placed under the exclusive 
control of the Grand Orient. 

But a further detail of the dissensions which obscured masonry 
in France, would be painful as well as tedious. They were re- 
newed in 1821, by the reorganization of the Supreme Council, 
which had been dormant since 1815. But in 1842 an advance 
towards a reconciliation was made by the Supreme Council, which 
has at length been met by the Grand Orient. The friendship 
was consummated in 1842, and peace now reigns, at last, among 
the Masons of France. 

Germany. The first German lodge was established at Co- 
logne, in 1716, but it died almost as soon as it was born. Se- 



GKA 17? 

vcnteen years afterward, (in 1733,) according to Preston,* a 
charter was granted by the Grand Lodge of England, to eleven 
German Masons in Hamburg. In 1738, another lodge was esta- 
blished in Brunswick, under the authority of the Grand Lodge of 
Scotland. This lodge, which was called "The Three Gloves/' 
united with the lodges of " The Three White Eagles," and " The 
Three Swans/' to organize, in 1741, a Grand Lodge, the first 
established in Germany. This Grand Lodge still exists, and has 
ir>der its jurisdiction eighty-eight subordinate lodges. There is 
aaother Grand Lodge at Brunswick, which was established m 
1768, by the Grand Lodge of England, and which is considered 
as the metropolitan Grand Lodge of Germany. It has under its 
jurisdiction fifty-three subordinate lodges. 

Prussia. The Royal York Grand Lodge of Prussia is situated 
at Berlin. It was established as a subordinate lodge, in 1752. 
In 1765 it initiated the Duke of York, and then assumed the 
name of " Royal York in Friendship." It had under its juris- 
diction, in 1840, twenty-seven lodges. The " Grand Lodge of 
the Three Globes" was founded in 1740, and has under its juris- 
diction one hundred and seventy-seven lodges. There are now' 
three Grand Lodges in Prussia, the "Three Globes," the " Royal 
York," and the " National," which was founded, in 1770, by a 
warrant from the Grand Lodge of England ; every lodge in 
Prussia derives its warrant from one of these Grand Lodges. 

Saxony. The first lodge in Saxony was the Three White 
Eagles, which was formed in 1738 at Dresden. In 1741 anothei 
was formed at Leipsig, and a third in the following year at Al- 
tenburg. The Grand Lodge of Saxony was establised in 1812. 
It has adopted the system of Ancient Craft, or St. John's masonry, 
for its rite, and under this all its subordinates, except two, profess 
to work. 

Belgium. In 1721, the Grand Lodge of England constituted 
the lodge of "Perfect Union," at Mons, and in 1730, another at 
Ghent. The former was afterward erected into a Grand Lodge. 
The present Grand Orient of Belgium has its seat at Brussels. 

* Illustrations, p. 183, ed. 1804. 



J 80 GRA 

Holland. The first lodge established in Holland, was at the 
Hague in 1731, under the warrant of the Grand Lodge of England. 
It was, however, only a lodge of emergency, having been called 
to initiate the Duke of Tuscany, afterward Francis the First, 
Emperor of Germany. After the ceremony bad been performed 
by the Earl of Chesterfield, the lodge was closed. The first re- 
gular lodge was established at the same place in 1734, which five 
years after took the name of " Mother Lodge." In 1735, a lodge 
was opened at Amsterdam. The National Grand Lodge was esta- 
blished on the 18th December, 1757, and now has about seventy 
lodges under its register. 

Denmark. The Grand Lodge of Denmark was instituted in 
1743. It derived its existence from the Grand Lodge of Scotland. 
It is situated at Copenhagen. Masonry in this country is in a 
flourishing condition; it is recognized by the state, and the reign- 
ing king is Grand Master. 

Sweden. In no country has the progress of masonry been 
more prosperous than in Sweden. It arose there in 1754, under 
the charter of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. The seat of the 
Grand Lodge is at Stockholm, and the king is at the head of 
the craft. 

Russia. An English lodge was constituted at St. Petersburg, 
in 1740, under a warrant from the Grand Lodge of England, and 
masonry soon afterwards began to increase with great rapidity 
throughout the empire. In 1772, the Grand Lodge of England 
established a Provincial Grand Mastership, and lodges were con- 
stituted successively at Moscow, Pviga, Jassy, and in various parts 
of Courtland. The order was patronized by the throne, and, of 
course, by the nobility. But, unfortunately, politics began to 
poison, with its pollutions, the pure atmosphere of masonry, and 
the order rapidly declined. Lodges are, however, still privately 
held in various parts of the empire. 

Poland. In 1739, Freemasonry was suppressed in this king- 
dom by an edict of King Augustus II. In 1781, however, it 
was revived under the auspices of the Grand Orient of France; 



GRA 181 

who, upon the application of three lodges at "Warsaw, established 
lodges at Wilna, Dubno, Posen, Grodno, and Warsaw. These 
united in 1784, to form a Grand Orient, but the decree of the 
Emperor Alexander in 1822 closed all the lodges of Poland. 

Bohemia. Freemasonry was instituted in Bohemia, in 1749, 
by the Grand Lodge of Scotland. In 1776 it was highly pros- 
perous, and continued so until the commencement of the French 
revolution, when it was suppressed by the Austrian government. 
Its present condition I have no means of ascertaining. 

Switzerland. In 1737, the Grand Lodge of England granted 
a patent to Sir George Hamilton, by authority of which he insti- 
tuted a Provincial Grand Lodge at Geneva. Two years after- 
wards the same body bestowed a warrant of constitution on a 
lodge situated at Lausanne. Masonry continued to nourish in 
Switzerland until 1745, when it was prohibited by an edict of 
the Council of Berne. From this attack, however, it re3overed 
in 1764. The lodges resinned their labours, and a Grand Lodge 
was organized at Geneva. But Switzerland, like France, has 
been sorely visited with masonic dissensions. At one time there 
existed not less than three conflicting masonic authorities in the 
republic. Peace has, however, been restored, and the National 
Grand Lodge of Switzerland, seated at Berne, now exercises sole 
masonic jurisdiction, under the name of Alpina. The Book of 
Constitutions is similar to that of England. The Grand Lodge 
Alpina recognizes only the three degrees of Ancient Craft Ma- 
sonry. 

Italy. The enmity of the Roman church towards Freemasonry, 
has ever kept the latter institution in a depressed state in Italy. 
A lodge existed at Florence, as early as 1733, established by 
Lord Charles Sackville, the son of the Duke of Dorset. Xow, 
in the year 1871, the Grand Lodge of Italy is in open and active 
existence. 

Spain. The first lodge established in Spain was in 1727, at 
Gibraltar. Another was constituted the year following, at Ma- 
drid. A third was formed at Andalusia, in 1731. The per- 



182 GRA 

secutions of the priests and government were always obstacles to 
the successful propagation of masonry in this kingdom. Lodges, 
however, still exist and work in various parts of Spain, but their 
meetings are in private. 

Portugal. What has been said of Freemasonry in Italy and 
Spain, is equally applicable to Portugal. Though lodges were 
established as early as 1735, they always were, and continue to 
be, holden with great secrecy. One, however, of the influences 
of the French invasion, was the dissemination of Freemasonry 
among the Portuguese, and the Grand Orient of Lusitania is in 
open existence, its seat being the city of Lisbon. 

Turkey. Of the state of masonry in the Ottoman Empire, we 
know but little. Clavel says, that lodges were established at 
Constantinople, Smyrna and Aleppo, in 1738. There is a Pro- 
vincial Grand Lodge of Turkey at Constantinople, under the 
English regime. 

Asia. Freemasonry was introduced into India, in 1728, by 
Sir George Poml'ret, who established a lodge at Calcutta. An- 
other was formed in 1740, and in 1779 there was scarcely a town 
in Hindostan in which there was not a lodge. In that year 
Onidit ul Oinrah Bahauder, the eldest son of the nabob of the 
Carnatic, was initiated at Trinchinopoly. Masonry exists in a 
prosperous condition, in Asia Minor and all the English settle- 
ments, under the jurisdiction generally of the Grand Lodge of 
England. There are several lodges in China. 

Africa. Freemasonry was introduced into Africa, in 1736, 
by the establishment of lodges at Cape Coast on the Gambia lli- 
ver. Lodges have since been constituted at the Cape of Good 
Hope; in the islands of Mauritius, Madagascar, and St. Helena; 
and at Algiers, Tunis, Morocco, Cairo, and Alexandria. 

Oceanica. Into these remote regions has the institution of 
Freemasonry extended. Lodges have existed since 1828, at 
Sidney, Paramatta, Melbourne, and in many other of the English 
colonies. 

America. The first lodge established in Canada, was at Cape 



GRA 183 

Breton, in the year 1745. Lodges existed from as early a period 
in the West India Islands. On the establishment of the Brazilian 
Empire, a Grand Lodge was instituted, and, in 1825, Don Pedro 
the First was elected its Grand Master. In 1825, the Grand 
Lodge of Mexico was organized ; and in 1837, that of Texas was 
instituted. Long before these periods, however, lodges had been 
constituted in both these countries, under charters from different 
Grand Lodges in the United States. 

United States. The first notice that we have of Freemasonry 
in the United States, is in 1729, in which year, during the Grand 
Mastership of the Duke of Norfolk, Mr. Daniel Cox was ap« 
pointed Provincial Grand Master for New Jersey. I have not, 
however, been able to obtain any evidence that he exercised his 
prerogative by the establishment of lodges in that province, 
although it is probable that he did. In the year 1733 the " St. 
John's Grand Lodge" was opened in Boston in consequence of a 
charter granted, on the application of several brethren residing in 
that city, by Lord Viscount Montacute,* Grand Master of England. 

This charter is dated on the 30th of April, in the same year, 
and appointed the R. W. Henry Price, Grand Master in North 
America, with power to appoint his Deputy, and the other officers 
necessary for forming a Grand Lodge, and also to constitute lodges 
of Free and Accepted Masons as often as occasion should require. 
The first charter granted by this body was to " St. John's Lodge" 
in Boston, which lodge is still in existence. In the succeeding 
year, it granted a charter for the constitution of a lodge in Phi- 
ladelphia, of which the venerable Benjamin Franklin was the first 
Master. This Grand Lodge, however, descending from the Grand 
Lodge of England, was, of course, composed of Modern Masons. f 



* I am indebted to my esteemed friend and learned brother A. 0. Sullivan, 
Grand Secretary of Missouri, for calling my attention to the inadvertence I have 
committed in previous editions of spelling this name Montague instead of 
Montacute. But I may console myself with the rather selfish reflection that 
nearly all of my contemporaries have fallen into the same error. 

■j" See the article Modern Masons. 



184 GRA 

A number of brethren, there, residing in Boston, who were An- 
cient Masons, applied to and received a dispensation from 
Lord Aberdour, Grand Master of Scotland, constituting them a 
regular lodge, under the designation of St. Andrew's Lodge, 
No. 82, and the Massachusetts Grand Lodge, descending from 
the Grand Lodge of Scotland, was established on the 27th De- 
cember, 1769. On the 19th June, 1792, the two Grand Lodges 
wore united, and all the distinctions of Ancient and Modern Ma- 
sons abolished. 

In 1785, Freemasonry was introduced into South-Carolina by 
the constitution of " Solomon's Lodge, No. 1," under a Warrant 
iroui Lord Montague, Grand Master of Free and Accepted Ma- 
sons of England. This was, therefore, the fourth lodge org;mized 
in the United States.* Three other lodges were soon afterwards 
constituted. In 1754, on the 30th of March, the Marquis of 
Carnarvon, Grand Master of England, issued his Warrant, con- 
stituting a Provincial Grand Lodge in the province, and appoint- 
ing Chief Justice Leigh, Provincial Grand Master. On the 24th 
of December, in the same year, the Grand Lodge was solemnly 
constituted at Charleston. In 1787 a Grand Lodge of Ancient 
York Masons was also established at Charleston, and in the course 
of the succeeding years, many disagreeable dissensions occurred 
between this and the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons 
which had been organized in 1754. These, however, at length, 
happily terminated, and an indissoluble union took place between 
the two bodies in December, 1817, which resulted in the for- 
mation of the present " Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons." 

In 1764, the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania was established by 
a Warrant issued from the Grand Lodge of England. Sub- 
sequently, the Grand Lodge of North Carolina was constituted 
in 1771; that of Virginia in 1778; and that of New York 
in 1781. 



* It ranked as No. 45, on the Register of England, while Solomon's lodge in 
Savannah, which preceded it in time of constitution, held the number 46. S«a 
Hutchinson's List. 



GRA 185 

These Grand Lodges were, until the close of the Revolutionary 
War, held under the authority of Charters granted either by the 
Grand Lodge of England, or that of Scotland. But, on the con- 
firmation of our political independence, the brethren, desirous of 
a like relief from the thraldom of a foreign power, began to or- 
ganize Grand Lodges in their respective limits, and there new 
exist such bodies in every State and Territory in the Union, the 
last formed being that of Minnesota in 1853. 

GRAND LODGES, JURISDICTION OF. A Grand Lodge 
is invested vith power and authority over all the craft within it.« 
jurisdiction, It is the Supreme Court of Appeal in all masonic 
cases, and to its decrees unlimited obedience must be paid, by 
every lodge and every Mason situated within its control. The 
government of Grand Lodges is, therefore, completely despotic. 
While a Grand Lodge exists, its edicts must be respected and 
obeyed without examination by its subordinate lodges. Yet should 
a Grand Lodge decree wrongfully or contrary to the ancient con- 
stitutions, though there be no redress for its subordinates, the 
Grand Lodges in other States may declare its proceedings irre- 
gular, and even put it out of the pale of masonry, by refusing to 
hold communion with it. But in this case, the Grand Lodge 
does not suffer more than the craft in general working under it : 
for every Mason who should then acknowledge its authorit}^, would 
be placed under the same ban of masonic outlawry. Grand Lodges 
are, however, exceedingly scrupulous in exercising this interference 
with the masonic authorities of other jurisdictions, reserving the 
exertion of this power only for cases in which there has been a 
manifest violation of the ancient landmarks. An instance of this 
kind has lately occurred in this country. In 1828, the labours 
of the Grand Lodge of Michigan, in consequence of the anti-ma- 
sonic excitement then at its height, were suspended, and the 
lodges under its jurisdiction dissolved. In 1841, masonry having 
revived in that State, the Masons of Michigan met in convention. 
and without the existence of a single subordinate lodge, proceeded 

16* 



186 GRA 

to institute a Grand Lodge. This was in palpable derogation of 
the fundamental laws of the order. Consequently, (he other su- 
preme masonic bodies in the Union refused to acknowledge the 
Grand Lodge of Michigan. Afterwards (in 1844) this body, 
submitting very properly to the general opinion of the fraternity, 
proceeded to organize according to the legitimate mode, by the 
convention of tie constitutional number of lodges, and it is now 
iv cognized as a egularly constituted Grand Lodge. 

This supreme p^wer that is vested in Grand Lodges, by which 
they are constituted as the sole judges and exponents, for their 
respective jurisdictions, of the ancient landmarks and usages of 
the fraternity, is derived from the fundamental laws of masonry. 
It is based, too, upon sound sense and expediency. For without 
a governing power, so large a body as the craft would soon run 
into anarchy. But this power could not be placed in the hands 
of subordinate lodges, or individual brethren, for that would create 
endless confusion. Grand Lodges are, therefore, its proper de- 
positories, since they contain within themselves the united wisdom 
and prudence of many subordinate lodges. And so careful has 
our institution been of the preservation of this power to Grand 
Lodges, that according to the Ancient Charges, the master of 
every lodge is called upon, previous to his installation, to give 
his assent to the following propositions : 

" You agree to hold in veneration, the original rulers and pa- 
trons of the order of Freemasonry, and their regular successors, 
supreme and subordinate, according to their stations ; and to 
submit to the awards and resolutions of your brethren in Grand 
Lodge convened, in every case, consistent with the constitutions 
of the order. 

" You promise to pay homage to the Grand Master for the time 
being, and to his officers when duly installed, and strict!?/ to con- 
form to every edict of the Grand Lodye." 

GRAND LODGES, ORGANIZATION OF. Grand Lodges 
are organized in the following manner. Three or more legally 



GRA 187 

constituted lodges working in any state, kingdom, or other in- 
dependent political division, where no Grand Lodge already ex- 
ists, may meet in convention, adopt by-laws, elect officers, and 
organize a Grand Lodge. The lodges within its jurisdiction then 
surrender their Warrants of Constitution to the Grand Lodges 
from which they respectively had received t.hem, and accept others 
from the newly organized Grand Lodge, which thenceforward ex- 
ercises all masonic jurisdiction ovei the state in which it has been 
organized. 

A Grand Lodge thus organized, consists of the Masters and 
Wardens of all the lodges under its jurisdiction, and such Past 
Masters as may enrol themselves or be elected as members. Past 
Masters are not, however, members of the Grand Lodge by in- 
herent right, but only by courtesy, and many of the Grand 
Lodges have adopted a regulation by which they are entirely 
excluded from active membership. 

All Grand Lodges are governed by the following officers : Grand 
Master, Deputy Grand Master, Senior and Junior Grand Wardens, 
Grand Treasurer, and Grand Secretary. These are usually termed 
the Grand officers; in addition to them there are subordinate 
officers appointed by the Grand Master and the Grand Wardens, 
such as Grand Deacons, Grand Stewards, Grand Marshal, Grand 
Pursuivant, Grand Sword Bearer, and Grand Tiler ; but their 
number and titles vary in different Grand Lodges. 

GRAND MASTER. The presiding officer of the masonic 
fraternity, to whom is entrusted the execution of important duties, 
and who is consequently invested with extensive powers, should 
always be selected for his respectability, virtue, and learning. For 
the first, that the dignity of the fraternity may not suffer under his 
administration; for the second, that he may afford an example worthy 
of imitation to his brethren ; for the last, that he may be enabled 
to guide and control the craft with proper skill and accuracy. 

The powers of the Grand Master during the recess of the Grand 
Lodge are very extensive. He has full authority and right not 



188 GRA 

only to be present, but also to preside in every lodge, with the 
Master of the lodge on his left hand, and to order his Grand 
Wardens to attend him, and act as Wardens in that particular 
lodge.* He has the right of visiting the lodges and inspecting 
their books and mode of work as often as he pleases, or if unable 
to do so, he may depute his grand officers to act for him. He 
has the power of granting dispensations for the formation of new 
lodges, which dispensations are of force until revoked by himself 
or the Grand Lodge. He may also grant dispensations for se- 
veral other purposes, for which see the article " Dispensation." 
Formerly, the Grand Master appointed his Grand officers, but 
this regulation has been repealed, and the Grand officers are now 
all elected by the Grand Lodge. 

When the Grand Master visits a lodge, he must be received 
with the greatest respect, and the Master of the lodge should 
always offer him the chair, which the Grand Master may or may 
not accept at his pleasure. 

Should the Grand Master die, or be absent from the jurisdiction 
during his term of office, the Deputy Grand Master assumes his 
powers, or if there be no Deputy, then the Grand Wardens accord- 
ing to seniority. 

GRAND MASTER ARCHITECT. Grand Master Architect. 
The 12th degree in the Ancient Scotch rite. This is strictly a 
scientific degree, resembling in that respect the degree of Fellow 
Craft. In it the principles of architecture and the connection of 
the liberal arts with masonry, are unfolded. Its officers are three, 
a Most Powerful and two Wardens. The chapter is decorated 
with white and red hangings, and furnished with the five orders 
of architecture and a case of mathematical instruments. The 
jewel is a gold medal, on both sides of which are engraved the 
orders of architecture. It is suspended by a stone colored 
ribbon. 



* GeLiial Regulations, 1757, Art. 5, in Anderson Const. 337. 



GRA— GRE 189 

GRAND MASTER OF ALL SYMBOLIC LODGES. 

Venerable maitre de toutes les Joges. The 20th degree in the 
Ancient Scotch rite. The presiding officer is styled Venerable 
Grand Master, and represents Cyrus Artaxerxes. He is seated 
in the east on a throne elevated upon nine steps, and is assisted 
by two Wardens in the west. The decorations of the lodge are 
blue and yellow. The lecture of the degree contains some interest- 
ing instructions respecting the first and second temple. 

Among the traditions preserved by the possessors of this degree, 
is one which states that after the third temple was destroyed by 
Titus, the son of Vespasian, the Christian Freemasons who were 
then in the Holy Land, being filled with sorrow, departed from 
home with the determination of building a fourth,* and that, di- 
viding themselves into several bodies, they dispersed over the 
various parts of Europe. The greater number went to Scotland, 
and repaired to the town of Kilwinning, where they established a 
lodge and built an abbey, and where the records of the order 
were deposited. 

GRAND OFFERINGS. See Ground Floor of the Lodge. 

GRAND PONTIFF. Grand Pontife on Sublime Fcossais. 
The 19th degree of the Ancient Scotch rite. The degree is oc- 
cupied in an examination of the Apocalyptic mysteries of the New 
Jerusalem. Its officers are a Thrice Puissant and one Warden. 
The Thrice Puissant is seated in the east on a throne canopied 
with blue, and wears a white satin robe. The Warden is in the 
west, and holds a staff of gold. The members are clothed in 
white, with blue fillets embroidered with twelve stars of gold, and 
are called True and Faithful Brothers. The decorations of the 
lodge are blue sprinkled with gold stars 

GREEN. The emblematic color of a Knight of the Red Cross, 
and of a Perfect Master. 

* This was to be a spiritual one. 



100 GRO-GUA 

The Red Cross Knight is reminded by this color that Truth is 
a divine attribute, and that like the green Bay tree it will nourish 
in perpetual verdure. 

The Perfect Master is admonished by it, that being dead in sin, 
he must hope to revive in virtue. 

GROUND FLOOK OF THE LODGE. Mount Moriah, on 
which the Temple of Solomon was built, is symbolically called 
the ground floor of the lodge, and hence it is said that "the lodge 
rests on holy ground." This ground floor of the lodge is remark- 
able for three great events recorded in Scripture, and which are 
called "the three grand offerings of masonry." It was here that 
Abraham prepared, as a token of his faith, to offer up his beloved 
son Isaac — this was the first grand offering ; it was here that 
David, when his people were afflicted with a pestilence, built an 
altar, and offered thereon peace offerings and burnt offerings to 
appease the wrath of God — this was the second grand offering ; 
and lastly, it was here, that when the Temple was completed, 
King Solomon dedicated that magnificent structure to the service 
of Jehovah, with the offering of pious prayers and many costly 
presents — and this was the third grand offering. 

This sacred spot was once the threshing floor of Oman the 
Jebusite, and from him David purchased it for fifty shekels of 
silver.* The Cabbalists delight to invest it with still more solemn 
associations, and declare that it was the spot on which Adam was 
born and Abel slain. To. the Mason it is sufficiently endeared by 
the collection that it was here that after a long night of darkness, 
was restored and masonry found. 



GUAGE. See Twenty-four inch Gauge. 

GUARDS OF THE CONCLAVE. See Knights of the Chris- 
tian Mark. 



* 1 Chronicles xxi. 25. 



GUT— 1IAI 191 

GUTTURAL. Belonging to the throat; from the Latin guttur, 
the thr jat. The throat is that avenue of the body which is most 
employed in the sins of intemperance, and hence it suggests to 
the Mason certain symbolic instructions in relation to the virtue 
of temperance. 



H. 

HAG-G-AI. Haggai was the first of the three prophets who 
flourished after the captivity. He was most probably born at 
Babylon, whence he accompanied Zerubbabel to Jerusalem to 
rebuild the second temple. In the B,oyal Arch he is represented 
by the Scribe, because he expounded the law to Zerubbabel and 
Joshua, which was the proper duty of a Scribe. (See Scribe.) He 
reproved the people for their neglect in rebuilding the temple, 
and incited them to the work, by the promise of God's assistance. 
His intimate connection with the King and High Priest, and 
the masonic authority for placing him in the council with Zerub- 
babel and Johsua, are confirmed by the first verse of the Book of 
Haggai : " In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth 
month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord 
by Haggai the Prophet unto Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, 
governor of Judah, and to Johsua the son of Josedech the High 
Priest, saying," etc. 

HAH. The Hebrew definite article, H> signifying "the." 

HAIL, or HALE. This word is used among Masons with 
two very different significations. 1. When addressed as an in- 
quiry to a visiting brother, it has the same import as that in which 
it is used under like circumstances by mariners. Thus : " Whence 
do you hail?" that is, " of what lodge are you a member?" Used 
in this sense, it comes from the Saxon term of salutation " hjel," 



j 92 IIAI— IIAR 

and should be spelt u hail." 2. Its second use is confined to 
what Masons understand by the " tie," and in this sense it signi- 
fies to conceal, being derived from the Saxon word " HELAN,"* 
to hide. By the rules of etymology, it should be spelt " hale." 
The preservation of this Saxon word in the masonic dialect, while 
it has ceased to exist in the vernacular, is a striking proof of the 
antiquity of the order and its ceremonies, in England.")" 

HAND. See Eight Rand. 

HARMONY. Harmony is the chief support of every well 
regulated institution. Without it, the most extensive empires 
must decay ; with it, the weakest nations may become powerful. 
The ancient philosophers and poets believed, that the prototype 
of harmony was to be found in the sublime music of the spheres, 
and that man, copying nature, has attempted to introduce this 
divine melody into human life. J And thus it proves its celestial 
origin, by the heavenly influence it exerts on earth. Sallust re- 
presents the good king Micipsa as saying, that "by concord small 
things increase; by discord the greatest fall gradually into ruin."§ 
Let every Mason,, anxious for the prosperity of his order, feel the 
truth of the maxim, and remember that for harmony should 
his lodo-e be opened — in harmony should it work — and with har- 
mony be closed. 

HARODIM. A Hebrew word, signifying princes or riders. 
In 1 Kings v. 16, it is said that Solomon had 3300 chief officers 
who ruled over the people, and in 2 Chronicles ii. 18, we read 

* E, in Anglo-Saxon, is to be pronounced as a in the word fate, 

f " In the western parts of England," says Lord King, " at this very day to 
hele over any thing signifies aino^gthe common people to cover it; and he that 
covereth an house with title or slate is called a helliar." — Critical Hist, of the 
Apostle's Creed, p. 178. 

X See Cicero, Somnium Scipionis. 

g Concordia parvae res cr»?;unt, discordia maxume dilabuntur. Bell 
Jugurth. I 18. 



EAR— HEA 193 

as follows : " and he set three score and ten thousand of them to 
be bearers of burdens, and four score thousand to be hewers in 
the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to 
set the people at work." The difference between the 3600 over- 
seers mentioned in this place, and the 3300 recorded in the book 
of Kings, arises from the fact that in the former place 300 chief 
overseers are included that are not alludt 1 to in the latter. These 
o00 overseers were the Harodim, or Provosts, or Princes.* 

HARODIM, GRAND CHAPTER OF. An institution 
opened in London, in 1787, whose nature is thus defined by 
Preston, who is said to have been its founder: "The mysteries 
of this order are peculiar to the institution itself, while the lectures 
of the chapter include every branch of the masonic system, and 
represent the art of masonry in a finished and complete form/'f 
In other words, it was a school of instruction organized upon a 
peculiar plan. Different classes were established, and particular 
lectures restricted to each class. The lectures were divided into 
sections, and the sections into clauses. The presiding officer was 
called the Chief Harod. He annually distributed the various 
sections to skilful members, who were called Sectionists, and these 
divided the different clauses among others who were denominated 
Clauseholders. When a member became possessed of all the 
sections, he was denominated a Lecturer. The whole system was 
admirably adapted to the purposes of masonic instruction. This 
body, I believe, (though I cannot speak with certainty,) no longer 
exists. Dr. Oliver, however, writes of it in 1846 as if it were 
still in operation. 

HEAL. A Mason who has received the degrees in a clan- 
destine lodge, or in an irregular manner, is not permitted to enjoy 
ths privileges of masonry, until he has passed through the cere- 
monies in a legally constituted lodge, or if it be the higher degrees, 



* These passages are thus ably explained by Brother Kleinschmidt in his 
" Constitutionensbuch der Freimnnrer." v. I, p. 17. Frankfort, 17S4. 
| Illust. of Masdb-v, p. 254. 

17 



194 HEA— HER 

in a chapter or encampment. After passing through this process, 
for which the expense is generally reduced, the brother is said to 
be healed. 

■HEARING-. One of the five human senses, and highly im- 
portant to Masons as one cf the modes through which the universal 
language of masonry may be communicated. But the contem 
plation of this subiect also conveys to us two invaluable lessons 
First, that we should always listen with humility to the lessons of 
instruction that come from the lips of those wiser than ourselves; 
and secondly, tha + our ears' should ever be open to the calls for 
assistance, which the worth} 7 and destitute may make upon our 
charity. 

HEREDOM, RITE OF. See Perfection, rite of. 

HERMAPHRODITE. Strictly, this word should have no 
place in a Masonic Lexicon ; but as I have heard many unskilful 
brethren make use of it, and refer to it, with much gravity in 
certain parts of the ceremony of initiation, I will avail myself of 
this opportunity, to announce a fact to them, which has long since 
been received as indisputable, by the whole medical world. The 
hermaphrodite is a monster, the belief in which has long been 
exploded; no such being ever existed, and every instance of the 
pretended conformation of both sexes in one animal, has upon 
inspection proved to be nothing more than a variety in the structure 
of the female organs. 

HERMETIC RITE. This is the name of a spurious system 
of Freemasonry, established by one Pernetti, in 1770, at Avignon 
in France. Its object was to teach symbolically the pretended 
arts of the alchemists, the transmutation of metals, and the com- 
position of the universal panacea, and of the elixir of life. It is 
now extinct, or exists only in its modification, the " Philosophic 
Scoth rite," (which see.) 

HERODEM, ROYAL ORDER OF. This is an order which 



HER 195 

Is said to have been founded in the year 1314, by King Robert 
Bruce. Tt is almost confined t : Scotland, out of which country 
it is hardly known. The best account of it that I can find, is the 
following, given by Dr. Oliver in his " Historical Landmark," 
vol. ii. p. 12. 

" Its history, in brief, relates to the dissolution of the Order 
of the Temple. Some of these persecuted individuals took refuge 
iu Scotland, and placed themselves under the protection of Robert 
Bruce, and assisted him at the battle of Bannockburn, which was 
fought on St. John's day, 1314. After this battle, the Royal 
Order was founded; and, from the fact of the Templars having 
contributed to the victory, and the subsequent grants to their 
order by King Robert, for which they were formally excommu- 
nicated by the Church, it has by some persons been identified 
with that ancient military order. But there are sound reasons 
for believing that the two systems were unconnected with each 
other. 

"The Royal Order of H. R. D. M.* had formerly its chief seat 
at Kilwinning, and -there is reason to think that it and St. John's 
masonry were then governed by the same Grand Lodge. But 
during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, masonry was at 
a very low ebb in Scotland, and it was with the greatest difficulty 
that St. John's masonry was preserved. The Grand Chapter of 
H. R. D. M. resumed its functions about the middle of the last 
century at Edinburgh and, in order to preserve a marked dis- 
tinction between the Royal Order and Craft Masonry, which had 
formed a Grand Lodge there in 1736, the former confined itself 
solely to the two degrees of H. R. D. M. and R, S. Y. C. S.f 

u The first of these degrees may not have been originally ma- 
sonic. It appears rather to have been connected with the cere- 
monies of the early Christians. The second degree, which was 
te^ned the Grade de la Tour, is honorary; the tradition' being 
that it was an order of knighthood, conferred on the field of Ban- 
n ckburn, and subsequently in Grand Lodge, opened in the AUxy 

* That is, Herodem. 

•j- That is, Herodem and Rosy Cross. 



196 HER 

of Kilwinning. It is purely Scotch, and given to Scotch Masons 
only; or to those who jecome so by affiliation, on being registered 
in the books of the Grand Chapter. But no one is regarded as a 
lawful Brother of H. B. D. M. or Knight of B. S. Y.C. S., until 
he be acknowledged by the Grand Chapter of Scotland." 

In a note to his assertion that the Degree of H. B. D. M. "was 
connected with the ceremonies of the early Christians," Dr. Oliver 
says that " these ceremonies are believed to have been introduced by 
the Culdees, in the second or third centuries of the Christian era." 
Some light may be thrown upon this supposition, by the following 
extract from a MS. in my possession relating to this degree. 

" Q. In what place was this order first established ? 

" A. First at I-colmb-kill, or I-columb-kill, and afterwards at 
Kilwinning, where the Kings of Scotland presided in person as 
Grand Master." 

I-colm-kill, it will be recollected, was one of the principal seats 
of the Culdees. 

HEBODEN. " Heroden," says a MS. of the ancient Scotch 
rite in my possession, " is a mountain situated in the N. W. of 
Scotland, where the first or metropolitan lodge of Europe was held. 
Hence the term Sovereign Prince of Bose Croix de Heroden." 
The French Masons spell it "Heredorn," which, I imagine, is 
simply a Gallic mode of expressing the Scottish title Heroden.* 
I refer for further explanation to the preceding article. 



* Since the 2d edition of this work was issued, Ragon has published a new 
and elaborate treatise entitled " Orthodoxie Magonnique," in which he asserts 
that the word "Heredorn," was invented between 1740 and 1745, by the adherents 
of Charles Stuart the Pretender at the Court of St. Germain, the residence, during 
that period, of that unfortunate prince, and that it is only a corruption of the 
mediaeval Latin word, "hoeredurn," signifying "an heritage, " and alluded to the 
castle of St. Germain. But as Ragon's favorite notion is that the Scotch rite, 
for which he has but little friendship, was instituted for the purpose of aiding 
the Stuarts in a restoration t< the throne of their ancestors, his theories and de- 
rivations must be taken with some grains of allowance. The suggestion is, how. 
ever, an ingenious one. 



HER— IITG 197 

HEROINE OF JERICHO. A side degree, instituted in 

this country, and, like the French masonry of adoption, common 
to both men and women. None but Royal Arch Masons, their 
wives and widows, are qualified to receive it. It is by no means 
extensively known, though there are some females in the Northern 
and Western States upon whom it has been conferred. 

HESED. A Hebrew word,1Dfl» pronounced hes-ed, signify- 
ing " mercy." 

HIGH PLACES. The Hebrews, as well as other ancient 
nations, were accustomed to worship on the tops of " the highest 
hills/' and sacrifices offered from these elevated positions were 
superstitiously supposed to be most acceptable to the Deity. So 
tenacious were the Jews of the observance of this custom, that 
even after the completion of the temple, they continued, notwith- 
standing the prohibition in Deuteronomy, to erect chapels on the 
mountains around Jerusalem, and to offer sacrifices in them. 
Even Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice, and the reason assigned 
is, because "it was the great high place."* 

" The highest hills and the lowest valleys" says Hutchinson, 
" were from the earliest times esteemed sacred, and it was sup- 
posed that the spirit of God was peculiarly diffusive in those 
places.'' Bryant says that high places were always dedicated to 
Sun worship, which was the spurious Freemasonry. 

Oliver f mentions a tradition among the Masons of Scotland, 
that the brethren of the ancient lodges of Kilwinning, Stirling, 
Aberdeen, &c, used formerly to assemble in the monasteries in 
foul weather ; but in fair weather, especially on the day of St. 
John the Evangelist, they met on the tops of the neighbouring 
Kills. 

HIGH PRIEST. The presiding officer of a Chapter of Royal 

* 1 Kings iii. 4. f Landmarks I. 352. 



198 HIG 

Arch Masons He is the representative of Joshjta, the High 
Priest, who, with Zerubbabel, Prince of Judah, and Haggai the 
the Scribe, laid the foundations of the second temple, and resumed 
the worship of the Lord. 

HIGH PRIEST OF THE JEWS. The office of High 
Priest among the Jews, was, on its first institution, confined to 
the house of Aaron in the line of his eldest son, though it was 
afterwards transferred to the family of Judas Maccabeus. The 
High Priest was at the head of religious affairs, and was the or- 
dinary judge, not only of ecclesiastical matters, but even of the 
general justice of the Jewish nation. He was consecrated to his 
sacred office with the most imposing ceremonies, such as inves- 
titure, anointing, and sacrifices. The first of these, as it is imi- 
tated in the vestments of the High Priest of a Royal Arch Chapter, 
requires some notice here. 

The garments worn by the High Priest were as follows : he 
was first clothed in a pair of linen drawers. Over this was a coat 
or shirt of fine linen reaching to his feet, and with sleeves extend- 
ing to his wrists. Over this again was a robe of blue, called the 
coat of ephod. It was without sleeves, but consisted of two pieces, 
one before and another behind, having a large opening in the top 
for the passage of the head, and another on each side to admit 
the arms. It extended only to the middle of the legs, and its 
skirt was adorned with little golden bells and pomegranates. Above 
all these vestments was placed the ephod, which has already been 
described as a short garment coming down only to the breast be- 
fore, but somewhat longer behind, without sleeves, and artificially 
wrought with gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, in em- 
broidery of various figures. It was looped on the shoulders with 
two onyx stones, on each of which was inscribe! the names of six 
of the tribes. On the front of the ephod he wore the breast 
plate, which has already been described* The High Priest als* 



* See article Breast Plate. 



HIG 199 

wore, at his solemn ministration, a mitre of fine linen of a blue 
colour. This was wrapt in several folds, and worn about his head 
in the manner of a Turkish turban, except that it was without a 
crown, being open on top, and sitting on his head like a garland. 
In front of it there hung down upon his forehead a square plate 
of gold, called the plate of the golden crown, upon which were 
inscribed the words Holiness to the Lord.* 

These vestments, as we have before observed, are worn by the 
High Priest of a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, and each of 
them conveys to the possessor a portion of symbolical instruction. 
The various colours of the robes are emblematic of the graces and 
virtues which should adorn the human mind; the white, of in- 
nocence and purity; the scarlet, of fervency and zeal; the purple, 
of union ; and the blue, of friendship. The mitre is to remind 
him of the dignity of his office, and the inscription on its plate to 
admonish him of his dependence on God. Lastly, the breast plate, 
upon which is engraved the names of the twelve tribes, is to teach 
him that he is always to bear in mind his responsibility to the 
laws and ordinances of the institution, and that the honour and 
interests of the chapter and its members should always be near 
his heart.*)* 

HIGH PRIESTHOOD, ORDER OF. This is an honorary 
degree, conferred only on the High Priest of a Royal Arch 

* See Home's Scripture History of the Jews. B. 1. Ch. 3. Sect. 4. 

f According to Josephus, the ancient Jews gave a different symbolic inter- 
{u station to these vestments. The breast plate in the middle of the ephod was 
emblematic of the earth placed in the centre, while the surrounding ocean was 
represented by the zone or girdle of the High Priest. The two onyx stones 
were symbols of the sun and moon, and the twelve stones in the breast plate 
of the twelve zodiacal signs. The blue mitre with its sacred inscription was em- 
blematic of heaven and the Deity who resided there. — Antiq. Judaic, lib. 
We may observe further of the mitre, that in the form of the Persian tiara or 
Phrygian bonnet, it was worn by the priests of Egypt, from whom the Jews, 
doubtless, borrowed it, and by those of the god Mithras. Its pyramidal shape 
made it symbolical of the beams of the sun. Maurice, in his "Indian Ami 
tmilies," suggests that the word mitre may be derived from Mithra, 



200 HIR 

Chapter. It may be conferred by three High Priests, but when 
the ceremonies are performed in ample form, the presence of at 
least nine High Priests is required. This degree is to the office 
of High Priest what that of Past Master is to the office of Wor- 
shipful Master of a symbolic lodge. In it is commemorated an 
ancient circumstance which occurred to a priest of God. The 
ceremonies, when duly performed, are exceedingly impressive. 

HIRAM. A name given to the gavel of the Worshipful 

Master, because, as Solomon controlled and directed the workmen 
in the temple by the assistance of Hiram the Builder, so does the 
Master preserve order in the lodge by the aid of the gavel. 

HIRAM, KING OF TYRE. He was the contemporary of 
Solomon, and assisted him in the construction of the Temple : 
furnishing him with timber, stone, and artificers, and loaning him 
one hundred and twenty talents of gold, equal in Federal currency, 
to about two and a half millions of dollars. Upon Solomon's ac- 
cession to the throne of Israel, Hiram sent ambassadors to con- 
gratulate him on this event. Solomon, in reply, made known to 
Hiram his intention of carrying into effect the long contemplated 
object of his father David, by the erection of a Temple to Jehovah, 
and he requested the assistance of the King of Tyre. Hiram, in 
his answer, expressed his willingness to grant the required assist- 
ance, and said, " I will do all thy desire concerning timber of 
cedar, and timber of fir. My servants shall bring them down from 
Lebanon unto the sea ; and I will convey them by sea in floats, 
unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them 
to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them ; and thou 
shalt accomplish my desire in giving food for my brotherhood.'* ;: 
The timber which was cut in Lebanon, was accordingly sent in 
floats to Joppa, the seaport of Jerusalem, whence it was con- 
veyed by land to that city. Solomon, in return for this kindness 



• See 1 Kings v. 8. 9. 



IIIR 201 

gave King Hiram yearly twenty thousand measures* of wheat, 
and twenty thousand measures of pure oil, besides liberally sup- 
porting the artificers and laborers with whom the King of Tyre 
had supplied him. Solomon also presented him with twenty cities 
in Galilee, with which, however, he was not satisfied, and a ma- 
sonic tradition informs us, that he visited the King of Israel, to 
expostulate with him on his injustice. Dius and Menander, two 
heathen historians inform us that Hiram and Solomon corres- 
ponded frequently, and attempted to puzzle each other by sultile 
questions. 

HIRAM THE BUILDER. Among the workmen sent by 
Hiram, King of Tyre, to Solomon, was one whom he styles "a 
cunning man, endued with understanding/'"!" and he is in another 
place described as " a widow's son of the tribe of Naphthali, and 
his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and he was 
tilled with wisdom and understanding, and cunning to work in 
all works in brass. "J This is the workman to whom Solomon 
was indebted for the construction of all the ornaments of the 
Temple. Hiram calls him Huram abi, that is, " Hiram my 
father ; which is an evidence of his high standing at the Tyrian 
Court ; for the title ab, or father, was among the Hebrews often 
bestowed- as a title of honour and dignity, on the chief advisers and 
intimate friends of the king. Thus Joseph, according to some 
commentators, is called, Abrech, or the "father of the king," 
and this very Hiram is spoken of in Chronicles§ in the following 
words: gnasah Huram Abif Vmelech Shlomo, that is, "did 
Huram his father, make to King Solomon." The name given to 
this architect in the lodges, is derived from this passage, Huram 
abif, meaning in Hebrew, Hiram his father. 

This Hiram, from his profession as an architect, and his birth 

* The word which in our Bibles is translated '•' measure," is. in the original, 
corim. The eor was a measure containing ten ephahs or baths, and equal to a 
little more than seventy-five wine gallons. 

•f- 2 Chronicles ii. 13. j 1 Kings viii. 14. $ 2 Chronicles iv. lo. 



202 HIR— HON 

as a Tyrian, was, in all probability, acquainted with the Dionysian 
fraternity, which society had extended itself to Tyre, and if so, 
the union in his person of the Tyrian and Israelitish races, must 
have afforded hirn a favourable opportunity, as we have already 
suggested, of communicating the mysteries of that fraternity to 
the Jewish builders of the Temple.* 

HIRAMITES. A name bestowed upon Freemasons, to indicate 
their descent from Hiram, .the chief builder at King Solomon's 
Temple. More particularly is the term used in the degree of 
Patriarch Noachite, (the twenty-first degree of the Scotch rite,) 
to distinguish Master Masons from the brethren of that degree, 
who profess to descend immediately, and without connection with 
Temple masonry, from the sons of Noah. Some learned wri- 
ters, however, embrace all Masons under the general term of 
Noachites. 

HISTORY. The history of the order, since it has assumed its 
present organization, will be found in the article Grand Lodges ; 
its antecedent history must be sought for under the head of An- 
tiquity of Masonry. 

HOLINESS TO THE LORD. Kodesh ladonai. This was 
the inscription worn by the High Priest on his forehead, in obe- 
dience to the command of God, expressed in Exodus. " And 
they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote 
upon it a writing, like to the engraving of a signet, Holiness to 
the Lord." xxxix. 30. 

HOLY OF HOWES. See Temple. 

HONOURABLE. This was the title formerly given to the 
decree of Fellow Craft. 



* There is a masonic tradition that he married the sister of Adoniram, and 
that his widow survived him many years. 



HON 203 

HONORARY DEGREE. The degrees of Past Master and 

High Priesthood, are styled honorary, because each is conferred 
as an u honorarium/' or reward attendant upon certain offices ; 
that of Past Master upon the elected Master of a symbolic lodge, 
and that of the High Priesthood upon the presiding officer of a 
Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. The degree of Mark Master, it 
appears to me, is called an honorary degree, because it was in- 
tended originally to be conferred only on worthy Fellow Crafts. 
It certainly should, consistently with its own tradition, precede 
the degree of Master Mason. The side degrees are also some- 
times called honorary degrees. 



HONOURS, GRAND. The Grand Honours of masonry are 
those peculiar acts and gestures, by which the craft have always 
been accustomed to express their homage, their joy ; or their grief 
on memorable occasions. They are of two kinds, the private and 
public, and each of them are used on different occasions and for 
different purposes. 

The private Grand Honours of masonry are performed in a man- 
ner known only to Master Masons, since they can only be used in 
a Master's lodge. They are practised by the craft only on four 
occasions : when a masonic hall is to be consecrated, a new lodge 
to be constituted, a Master elect to be installed, or a Grand Mastei 
or his Deputy to be received on an official visitation to a lodge. 
They are used at all these ceremonies as tokens of congratulation 
and homage. And as they can only be given by Master Masons, 
it is evident that every consecration of a hall, or constitution of 
a new lodge, every installation of a Worshipful Master, and every 
reception of a Grand Master, must be done in the third degree 
Tt is also evident from what has been said, that the mode and 
manner of giving the private Grand Honours can only be personally 
communicated to Master Masons. They are among the apon-eta 
— the things forbidden to be divulged. 

The public Grand Honours, as their name imports, do not par- 
cake of this secret character-. They are given on all public 



204 HON 

occasions, in the presence of the profane as well as the initiated 
They are used at the ^ing of corner-stones of public buildings, 
or in other services in which the ministrations of the fraternity 
are required, and especially in funerals. They are given in the 
following manner : Both arms are crossed on the breast, the left 
uppermost, and the open palms of the hands sharply striking the 
shoulders, they are then raised above the head, the palms striking 
each other, and then made to fall smartly upon the thighs. This 
is repeated three times, and as there are three blows given each 
time, namely on the breast, on the palms of the hands, and on the 
thighs, making nine concussions in all, the Grand Honours are 
technically said to be given "by three times three." On the 
occasion of funerals, each one of these honours is accompanied by 
the words " the will of God is accomplished; so mote it be," 
audibly pronounced by the brethren. 

These Grand Honours of masonry have undoubtedly a classical 
origin, and are but an imitation of the plaudits and acclamations 
practised by the ancient Greeks and Romans, in their theatres, 
their senates, and their public games. There is abundant evidence 
in the writings of the ancients, that in the days of the empire, 
the Romans had circumscribed the mode of doing homage to their 
emperors and great men when they made their appearance in pub- 
lic, and of expressing their approbation of actors at the theatre, 
within as explicit rules and regulations as those that govern the 
system of giving the Grand Honours in Freemasonry. This was 
not the case in the earlier ages of Rome, for Ovid, speaking of 
the Sabines, says that when they applauded, they did so without 
any rules of art : 

" In medio plausu, plausus tunc arte carebat." 

And Propertius speaks, at a later day, of the ignorance :f the 
country people, who, at the theatres, destroyed the general har- 
mony, by their awkward attempts to join in the modulated ap 
plauses of the more skilful citizens. 
The ancient Romans had carried their science on this subject 



HON 205 

to such an extent, as to have divided these honours into three 
kinds, differing from each other in the mode in which the hands 
were struck against each other, and in the sound that thence re- 
sulted. Suetonius, in his life of Nero, (cap. xx.,) gives the names 
oi these various kinds of applause, which he sajs were called 
bombi, imbrices and testae; and Seneca, in his "Naturales Quaes- 
tiones," gives a description of the manner in which they were 
executed. The " bombi," or hums, were produced by striking the 
palms of the hands together, while they were in a hollow or con- 
cave position, and doing this at frequent intervals, but with little 
force, so as to imitate the humming sound of a swarm of bees. 
The " imbrices," or tiles, were made, by briskly striking the flat- 
tened and extended palms of the hands against each other, so as 
to resemble the sound of hail pattering upon the tiles of a roof. 
The " testae," or earthen vases, were executed by striking the 
palm of the left hand, with the fingers of the right collected into 
one point. By this blow a sound was elicited, which imitated 
that given out by an earthen vase, when struck by a stick. 

The Romans, and other ancient nations, having invested this 
system of applauding with all the accuracy of a science, used it 
in its various forms, not only for the purpose of testifying their 
approbation of actors in the theatre, but also bestowed it, as a 
mark of respect, or a token of adulation, on their emperors, and 
other great men, on the occasion of their making their appearance 
in public. Huzzas and cheers have, in this latter case, been ge- 
nerally adopted by the moderns, while the manual applause is 
only appropriated to successful public speakers and declaimers. 
The Freemasons, however, have altogether preserved the ancient 
:-ustom of applause, guarding and regulating its use by as strict, 
though different rules, as did the Komaus ; and thus showing, as 
another evidence of the antiquity of their institution, that the 
i; Grand Honours" of Freemasonry are legitimately derived from 
the " plausus," or applaudings, practised by the ancients on pub- 
lic occasions. 

18 



206 HOP— HOU 

HOPE. The second round in the theological and masonic 
ladder, and appropriately placed there. For having attained the 
first, ox faith in God, we are led by a belief in his wisdom and 
goodness, to the hope of immortality. This is but a reasonable 
expectation j without it, virtue would lose its necessary stimulus, 
and vice its salutary fear ; life would be devoid of joy, and the 
grave but a scene of desolation. 

HOST, CAPTAIN OF THE. An officer in a Chapter of 
Royal Arch Masons, whose duties are of a peculiar nature, re- 
sembling in some degree those of a Master of Ceremonies. The 
person, who in Scripture is called Captain of the Host, occupied a 
station somewhat similar to that of a modern general, having the 
whole army under his command. 

HOUR GLASS. An emblem in the third degree, reminding 
us, by the quick passage of its sands, of the transitory nature of 
human life. 

HOURS OF WORK. Lodge hours, or hours of work, before 
or after which time no business should be transacted in the lodge, 
are prescribed in the Book of Constitutions. They are, from 
the vernal to the autumnal equinox, between the hours of seven 
and ten, and from the autumnal to the vernal, between six and nine. 

In this selection of the hours of night and darkness for initia- 
tion, the usual coincidence will be found between the ceremoniee 
of Freemason-y and those of the Ancient Mysteries, showing their 
evident derivation from a common origin. 

In the " Bacchse" of Euripides, that author introduces the 
god Bacchus, the supposed inventor of the Dionysian Mysteries, as 
replying to the question of King Pentheus, in the following words: 

" Pentheus.— By night or day, these sacred rites pcrform'st tho J ? 
Bacchus. — Mostly by night, for venerable is darkness ;"* 



* IIE.V. T(i S'Upi. vvxTcop, r) peti' i^iipav reXeis; 
A10. NvKTWp ra iroWd atuvornr' i\n okotos. 

[Eurip. Bacch. Act. ft. I. 48i 



HOU 207 

and in all the other mysteries the same reason was assigned for 
nocturnal celebrations, since night and darkness have something 
solemn and august in them which is clisjDosed to fill the mind with 
sacred awe. And hence, black, as an emblem of darkness and 
night, was considered as the colour appropriate to the mysteries. 

In the mysteries of Hindostan, the candidate for initiation, 
having been duly prepared by previous purifications, was led at 
the dead of night to the gloomy cavern, in which the mystic rites 
were performed. 

The same period of darkness was adopted for the celebration 
of the mysteries of Mithras, in Persia. Among the Druids of 
Britain and Gaul, the principal annual initiation commenced at 
" low twelve," or midnight of the eve of May-day. In short it 
is indisputable, that the initiations in all the ancient mysteries were 
nocturnal in their character. 

The reason given by the ancients for this selection of night as 
the time for initiation, is equally applicable to the system of 
Freemasonry. u Darkness," says Oliver, " was an emblem of 
death, and death was a prelude to resurrection. It will be at 
once seen, therefore, in what manner the doctrine of the resur- 
rection was inculcated and exemplified in these remarkable 
institutions." 

Death and the resurrection were the doctrines taught in the 
ancient mysteries; and night and darkness were necessary to add 
to the sacred awe and reverence which these doctrines ought 
always to inspire in the rational and contemplative mind. The 
same doctrines form the very ground-work of Freemasonry, and 
as the Master Mason, to use the language of Hutchinson, " re- 
presents a man saved from the grave of iniquity and raised to 
the faith of salvation," darkness and night are the appropriate 
accompaniments to the solemn ceremonies which demonstrate this 
profession 



208 IDI— ILL 

T. 

IDIOT. Idiocy is one of the mental disqualifications for ini- 
tiation. This does not, however, include a mere dullness of in- 
tellect and indocility of apprehension. These amount only to 
stupidity, and "the judgment of the heavy or stupid man," as 
Dr. Good has correctly remarked, " is often as sound in itself as 
that of a man of more capacious comprehension." The idiot is 
characterized by u a general obliteration of the mental powers and 
affections, a paucity or destitution of ideas, an obtuse sensibility, 
a vacant, countenance, an imperfect or broken articulation, with 
occasionally transient and unmeaning gusts of passion."* A 
being thus mentally afflicted, is incompetent to perform the duties, 
to observe the obligations,"" or to appreciate the instructions of 
Freemasonry, and to such a being the ancient constitutions of 
our order have wisely forbidden access to our portals. 

ILLUMINATI. llluminees (Signifying in Latin enlightened.) 

This was a secret society instituted in Bavaria, in 1776, by Adam 
Weishaupt, Professor of Canon Law in the University of Ingold- 
stat. Weishaupt was a radical in politics, and an infidel in re- 
ligion ; and he organized this association, not more for the pur- 
pose of aggrandizing himself, than of overturning Christianity 
and the institutions of society. With the view of carrying his 
objects more completely into effect, he united himself with a 
lodge of Freemasons in Munich, and attempted to graft his system 
of Illumiuism upon the stock of Freemasonry. Many Freema- 
sons, misled by the construction of his first degrees, were enticed 
into the order, but the developments made in the higher degrees, 
so averse from all the virtuous and loyal principles of Masonry, 
soon taught them the error they had committed, and caused them 
to abandon Illumiuism with greater rapidity than that with which 



I quote the specific definition of the enlightened writer already cited. 



ILL 



200 



they had embraced it. Among those who had abandoned the 
order, some went so far as to betray its secret principles. The 
Elector of Bavaria becoming alarmed at the political tenets which 
were said to be taught in their assemblies, instituted a judicial 
examination into the merits of the charges made against them, 
and the consequence was, that the Illuminati were completely 
extinguished in his territories.* The serpent had, however, only 
been scotched, not killed ; and the order afterwards made rapid 
progress in other parts of Germany, and especially in France, 
where it had been introduced in 1787, two years before the ex- 
ecution of Louis XVI. It was an institution created at the period, 
when the locust plague of infidelity and atheism was blighting, 
with its destructive influences, the peace and order of Europe; and 
with the return of sense and virtue, it ceased to exist. Uluminism 
belongs only to the history of the past. 

Uluminism was by its founder arranged systematically into 
classes, each of which was again subdivided into degrees, in the 
following manner : 

Preparation, 
Novice, 
Miner val, 

Illuminatus Minor. 
C Entered Apprentice, 
Symbolic •] Fellow Craft, 
^ (^ Master Mason. 

| Scotch | Illuminatus Major or Scotch Novice, 
'^ | Illuminatus Dirigens or Scotch Knight, 

Presbyter, 
Priest, 
Prince, 
Regent, 
Magus, 
Pvex. 



NlJRSERV, 



Masonry, 



Mysteries,^! 



Lesser 



Greater 



* See Robison's "Proofs of a Conspiracy," which, although the work of an 
enemy to our order, contains a very excellent exposition of the nature of this 
pseudo-masonic institution. 



18 



210 ILL— IMM 

ILLUMINATED THEOSOPHISTS. A modification of the 
above society, instituted at Paris by one Chastanier, who suc- 
ceeded in introducing his system in London. 

ILLUMINATI OF AVIGNON. A species of Freemasonry 
instituted in 1760, by Pernetti, a Benedictine monk, and Ga- 
brianca, a Polish nobleman, in which the reveries of Swedenborg 
were mingled with the principles of masonry. 

ILLUSTRIOUS ELECTED OF FIFTEEN. Maitres elm dcs 

quinze. The tenth degree in the ancient Scotch rite. The place 
of meeting is called a chapter ; the emblematic colour is black, 
strewed with tears j and the principal officers are a Most Illus- 
trious, a Grand Inspector and a Junior Warden. The history of this 
degree developes the continuation and conclusion of the punish- 
ment inflicted on three traitors, who, just before the conclusion 
of the Temple, had committed a crime of the most atrocious 
character. 

IMMANUEL. A Hebrew word signifying " God with us," 
from IJOj;, immanu « with us/' and ^K, el "God." A name 
applied to Christ. 

IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. A belief in this doc- 
trine is inculcated in masonry by several expressive emblems, 
but more especially by the second round of Jacob's ladder, and 
by the iprig of acacia. Its inculcation is also the principal sym- 
bolic object of the third or Master Mason's degree. 

The teaching of this doctrine was one of the most important 
of the Ancient Mysteries. They symbolized the resurrection and 
new birth of the spirit by that final part of the ceremonies of 
their legend which celebrated the restoration of their hero to life, 

o 

as in the case of Bacchus among the Dionysians, or the finding of 
the mutilated body, as in that of Osiris among the Egyptians. 
Such was the groping in darkness after truth among the disciples 



IMM— IMP 211 

of the spurious Freemasonry ; and we now teach the same truth 
in the Master's degree, but aided by a better light. 

On this subject a learned brother* thus describes the differ- 
ences between the spurious and true Freemasonry : 

"Whereas the heathens had taught this doctrine only by the 
application of a fable to their purpose ; the wisdom of the pious 
(xrand Master of the Israelitish Masons took advantage of 
a real circumstance which would more forcibly impress the sub- 
lime truths he intended to inculcate upon the minds of all 
brethren." 

IMMOVABLE JEWELS. According to the old system 
used in England, the immovable jewels of the lodge are the 
Rough Ashlar, Perfect Ashlar, and Trestle Board; but in this 
country, by the decision of the Baltimore Masonic Convention in 
1843, they are made to consist of the Square, Level, and Plumb. 
See Jewels of the Lodge. 

IMPLEMENTS. The implements made use of in operative 
masonry are all adopted by speculative masonry, for the purpose 
of symbolical instruction. Each will be discussed in its proper 
place, throughout this work. But I may here be permitted to 
recount the mode in which they are distributed among the dif- 
ferent degrees, and the reasons for this distribution. The twenty- 
four inch gauge and gavel are bestowed upon the Entered Ap- 
prentice, because these are the implements used in the quarries 
in hewing the stones and fitting them for the builder's use, an 
occupation which, for its simplicity, is properly suited to the 
unskilled apprentice. The square, level, and plumb are employed 
in the still further preparation of these stones and in adjusting 
them to their appropriate positions. This is the labour of the 
craftsmen, and hence to the Fellow Craft are they presented. 
But the work is not completed, until the stones thus adjusted 

* Archdeacon Slant, quoted by Dr. Oliver, Landmarks, II. 2. 



212 IND 

have been accurately examined by the master workmai. and 
permanenlly secured in their places by cement. This is accom- 
plished by the trowel, and hence this implement is entrusted to 
the Master Mason. Thus the tools attached to each degree ad- 
monish the Mason, as an Apprentice, to prepare his mind for the 
reception of the great truths which are hereafter tc be unfolded 
to him ; as a Fellow Craft to mark their importance and adapt 
them to their proper uses; and as a Master to adorn their beauty 
by the practice of brotherly love and kindness, the cement that 
binds all Masons in one common fraternity. 

INDENTED TESSEL. The ornamented border which sur- 
rounds the Mosaic pavement. See Tessellated Border. 

INDUCTION. Candidates who have been initiated into a 
council of the " Holy and Thrice Illustrious Order of the Cross" 
are said to be inducted. Past Masters are said to be inducted 
into the Oriental Chair of King Solomon. 

INDIA, MYSTERIES OF. Though the mysteries of Greece 
and Rome were modelled after those of Egypt, these last un- 
doubtedly derived their existence from the East, where the priests 
first began to conceal their doctrines under the form of mysterious 
rites, and to reveal them only to those who underwent a process 
of initiation. The western philosophers derived much, if not all 
of their learning from the gymnosophists or sages of India, who 
were not more celebrated for the extent of their knowledge, than 
for the simplicity of their lives. They inculcated a belief in the 
triad of gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, the first being the su- 
preme, eternal, uncreated god. It was from the gymnosophists 
that the philosophers of other nations acquired their idea of the 
existence of a Supreme Being, and of the immortality of the soul. 
The instructions of the gymnosophists were oral, and secret. They 
were communicated only after a process of initiation, which in said 
to have been extremely severe in its trials. 



IND 213 

The ceremonies of initiation into the mysteries of ancient 
India, have been collected from various sources with great in- 
dustry and research by Dr. Oliver. " They formed," says he, 
'•'one of the earliest corruptions of the pure science, which is 
now denominated Freemasonry, and bore a direct reference to the 
happiness of man in paradise, the subsequent deviations from right- 
eousness, and the destruction accomplished by the general 
deluge."* The scenes of initiation were in spacious caverns, the 
principal of which were Elephanta and Salsette, both situated 
near Bombay. The mysteries were divided into four degrees, 
and the candidate was permitted to perform the probation of the 
first at the early age of eight years. It consisted simply in the 
investiture with the linen garment, and Zennar or sacred cord, 
composed of nine threads, and suspended from the left shoulder 
across the breast to the right side ; of sacrifices accompanied by 
aqueous ablutions; and of an explanatory lecture delivered to the 
juvenile aspirant by the priest. He was now delivered into the 
care of a Brahmin, who thenceforth became his spiritual guide, 
and prepared him by repeated instructions and a life of austerity 
for admission into the second degree. To this, if found quali- 
fied, he was admitted at the requisite age. The probationary 
ceremonies of this degree consisted in an incessant occupation 
in prayers, fastings, ablutions, and the study of astronomy. 
Having undergone these austerities for a sufficient period, after 
having been placed in the Pastos, he was led at night to the 
gloomy caverns of initiation, which had been duly prepared for 
his reception. 

The interior of this cavern was brilliantly illuminated, and 
there sat the three chief hierophants, in the east, west, and south, 
representing the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, surrounded by 
the attendant mystagogues, dressed in appropriate vestments. 
After an invocation to the Sun, the aspirant was called upon to 
promise that he would be obedient to his superiors, keep his body 



Hist. Initial, lect. ii p. 41. 



214 IND 

pure, and preserve inviolable secrecy on the subject of the mys- 
teries. He was then sprinkled with water, an invocation of the 
deity was whispered in his ear, he was divested of his shoes, and 
made to circumambulate the cavern three times, in imitation of 
the course of the Sun, whose rising was personated by the hiero- 
phant representing Brahma, stationed in the east, whose meridian 
height by the representative of Siva in the south, and whose 
setting by the representative of Vishnu in the west. He was then 
conducted through seven ranges of dark and gloomy caverns, dur- 
ing which period the wailings of Mahadeva for the loss of Siva 
was represented by dismal howlings. The usual paraphernalia 
of flashes of light, of dismal sounds and horrid phantoms, was 
practised to intimidate or confuse the aspirant. After the 
performance of a variety of other ceremonies, many of which 
we can only conjecture, the candidate reached the extremity 
of the seven caverns; he was now prepared for enlightenment 
by requisite instruction and the administration of a solemn oath. 

This part of the ceremonies being concluded, the sacred conch 
was blown, the folding doors were suddenly thrown open, and the 
aspirant was admitted into a spacious apartment filled with daz- 
zling light, ornamented with statues and emblematical figures, richly 
decorated with gems, and scented with the most fragrant perfumes. 
This was a representation of Paradise. 

The candidate was now supposed to be regenerated, and he 
was invested by the chief Brahmin with the white robe and 
tiara; a cross was marked upon his forehead, and a tau upon his 
breast, and he was invested with the signs, tokens, and lectures 
of the order. He was presented with the sacred belt, the magical 
black stone, the talismanic jewel to be worn upon his breast, and 
the serpent stone, which, as its name imported, was an antidote 
against the bite of serpents. And lastly, he was entrusted with 
the sacred name, known only to the initiated. This ineffable name 
was AUM, which, in its trilitera. form, was significant of the 
creative, preservative, and destroying power, that is, of Brahma, 
Vishnu, and Siva. It could not be pronounced, but was to be the 



INE— INF 215 

subject of incessant silent contemplation. The emblems around 
and the aporreta or secret things of the mysteries were now ex- 
plained. 

Here ended the second degree. The third took place when 
the candidate had grown old and his children had all been pro- 
vided for. This consisted in a total exclusion in the forest, where 
as an anchorite he occupied himself in ablutions, prayers, and 
sacrifices. 

In the fourth degree, he underwent still greater austerities, 
the object of which was to impart to the happy sage who ob- 
served them, a portion of the divine nature, and to secure him a 
residence among the immortal gods. 

The object of the Indian mysteries appears to have been to 
teach the unity of God, and the necessity of virtue. The hap- 
piness of our first parents, the subsequent depravity of the human 
race, and the universal deluge were described in a manner which 
showed that their knowledge must have been derived from an 
authentic source. 

INEFFABLE. From the Latin word " ineffabilis ," not to 
be spoken or expressed. Eleven degrees above the Master Ma- 
son in the Ancient Scotch rite, are thus called, in allusion to the 
sanctity and sublimity of the secrets they contain. The term 
especially refers to the ineffable or unpronounceable word the 
investigation of which constitutes the peculiar object of these 
degrees. 

INFORMATION, LAWFUL. One of the modes of recog- 
nising a stranger as a true brother, is from the "lawful infor- 
mation" of a third party. No Mason can lawfully give infor- 
mation of another's qualifications unless he has actually tested 
him by the strictest trial and examination, or knows that it has been 
done by another. But it is not every Mason who is competent 
to give "lawful information." Ignorant and unskilful brethren 
cannot do so, because they are incapable of discovering truth 01 
of detecting error. A "rusty Mason" should never attempt to 



216 INi -INN 

examine a stranger, and certainly if he does his opinion as to the 
result is worth nothing. If the information given is on the 
ground that the party who is vouched for, has been seen sitting 
in a lodge, care must be taken to inquire if it was a "just and 
legally constituted lodge of Master Masons." A person may 
forget from the lapse of time, and vouch for a stranger as a Mas- 
ter Mason, when the lodge in which he saw him was only opened 
tn the first or second degree. Information given by letter, or 
through a third party, is irregular. The person giving the in- 
formation, the one receiving it, and the one of whom it is given, 
should all be present at the same time, for otherwise there would 
be no certainty of identity. The information must be positive, 
not founded on belief or opinion, but derived from a legitimate 
source. And, lastly, it must not have been received casually, but 
for the every purpose of being used for masonic purposes. For 
one to say to another, in the course of a desultory conversation, 
" A. B. is a Mason," is not sufficient. He may not be speaking 
with due caution, under the expectation that his words will be con- 
sidered of weight. He must say something to this effect, " 1 
know this man to be a Master Mason, for such or such reasons, 
and you may safely recognise him as such." This alone will 
ensure the necessary care and proper observance of prudence. 

INITIATION. The reception into the first degree of ma- 
sonry is thus called. It is derived from the Latin word initio., 
which signifies the first principles of a science. The same 
term was used by the ancients to designate admission into the 
mysteries of their Pagan rites. Thus Justin, speaking of 
Mida, King of Phrygia, says he was initiated into the myste- 
ries by Orpheus. "Ab Orpheo sacrorum solennibus initiatus" 
Lib. xi. c. 7. 

INNOVATIONS. Nothing is more offensive to the true Ma- 
son than any innovations on the ancient usages and customs of 
tin order. It is iu consequence of this conservative principle 



INN 217 

that masonry, notwithstanding many attempts have been made tc 
alter, or as it was supposed, to amend it, still remains unchanged 
— now, as it has always been. 

The middle of the eighteenth century was the most prominent 
era of those attempted innovations. 

After the downfall of the house of Stuart, and the defeat of tie 
Pretender's hopes in 1715, his adherents vainly endeavoured to 
enlist Freemasonry as a powerful adjunct to his cause. For this 
purpose it was declared by those who had enlisted in this design, 
that the great legend of masonry alluded to the violent death of 
Charles I., and Cromwell and his companions in rebellion were 
execrated as the arch traitors whom the lodges were to condemn. 
To carry out these views, new degrees were now for the first time 
manufactured, under the titles of Irish Master, Perfect Irish Mas- 
ter, Puissant Irish Master, and others of similar appellations. 

The Chevalier Ramsay, so well known in masonic history, soon 
after made his appearance in the political world, and having 
attached himself to the house of Stuart, he endeavoured more 
effectually to carry out these views by reducing the whole system 
to perfect order, and giving to it the appearance of plausibility. 
For this purpose he invented a new theory on the subject of the 
origin of Freemasonry. 

He declared that it was instituted in the Holy Land at the time 
of the Crusades, where the Knights Templars had associated them- 
selves together for the purpose of rebuilding those churches and 
other sacred edifices which had been destroyed by the Saracens. 
These latter, however, having discovered this holy design, and 
being determined to thwart it, had employed emissaries who, se- 
cretly mingling with the Christian workmen, materially impeded 
and often entirely paralyzed their labours. The Christians, as a 
security against (his species of treason, then found it necessaiy to 
invent signs and other modes of recognition by which intruders 
might be detected. 

When compelled by the failure of the Crusaders to leave the 
Holy Land, these pious as well as warlike knights were invited 

19 



218 INK 

by a king of England to retire to his dominions, where they de- 
voted themselves to the cultivation of architecture and the fine arts. 

Kainsay pretended that the degrees originally established by 
the Templars were those of Scotch Master, Novice, and Knight 
of the Temple, and he even had the audacity to propose, in 
1728, to the Grand Lodge of England to substitute them for 
the three primitive degrees of symbolical masonry, a proposition 
which met with no more success than it deserved. 

In Paris, however, he was more fortunate, for there his degrees 
were adopted, not, indeed, as a substitute for, but as an addition to 
Ancient Craft Masonry. 

These degrees became popular on the Continent, and in a short 
time gave birth to innumerable others, which attempted to com- 
pensate for their want of consistency with the history, the tra- 
ditions, and the principles of the ancient institution, by splendour 
of external decorations and gorgeousness of ceremonies. Happily, 
however, the existence of these innovations has been but ephe- 
meral. They are no longer worked as degrees, but remain only in 
the library of the masonic student as subjects of curious inquiry. 
The "hautes grades" of the French, and the Philosophic degrees 
of the Ancient and Accepted Scotch rite, are not innovations on, 
but illustrations of, pure symbolic masonry, aud as such will be 
found to be the depositories of many interesting traditions and 
instructive speculations, which are eminently useful in shedding 
light upon the character and objects of the institution. 

I. N. R. I. The initials of the Latin sentence which was placed 
upon the Cross : Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judseorum. The Rosi- 
crucians used them as the initials of one of their hermetic secrets : 
Igne Natura Renovatur Integra — " By fire nature is perfectly 
renewed."* They also adopted them to express the names of 
their three elementary principles, salt, sulphur, and mercury, by 
making them the initials of the sentence, Igne Nitram Run's 



■■■ Cours Philusophique ct Interprets tit' dea Initiations, i>. 323. 



INS— INT 219 

Invenitur. Ragon finds in the equivalent Hebrew letters "**)jp 
the initials of the Hebrew names of the ancient elements ; Iami- 
mm } water, JVour, fire, Ruach, air, and IehscJiah, earth. 

These speculations may afford some interest to the Hose Croix 
Mason and the Knight Templar. 

INSPECTOR. See Sovereign Grand Inspector General 

INSTALLATION. The officers of a lodge, before they can 
proceed to discharge their functions, must be installed. The of- 
ficers of a new lodge are installed by the Grand Master, or by 
some Past Master deputed by him to perform the ceremony. For- 
merly the Master was installed by the Grand Master, the Wardens 
by the Grand Wardens, and the Secretary and Treasurer by the 
Grand Secretary and Treasurer, but now this custom is not con- 
tinued. At the election of the officers of an old lodge, the Mas- 
ter is installed by his predecessor or some Past Master present, 
and the Master elect then instals his subordinate officers. No 
officer after his installation can resign. At his installation the 
Master receives the degree of Past Master. It is a law of ma- 
sonry that all officers hold on to their respective offices until their 
successors are installed. 

INSTRUCTION, LODGE OF. These are assemblies of 
brethren congregated without a warrant of constitution, under the 
direction of a Lecturer or skilful brother for the purpose of im- 
provement in masonry, which is accomplished by the frequent 
rehearsal of the work and lectures of each degree. These bodies 
should consist exclusively of Master Masons, and though they pos- 
sess no masonic power, it is evident to every Mason that they are 
extremely useful, as schools of preparation for the duties that are 
afterwards to be performed in the regular lodge. 

INTENDANT OF THE BUILDINGS. Intendant des Br- 

timents. This degree is sometimes called " Master in Israel." 



are 

i- 



220 INT— IRI 

It is the eighth in the Ancient Scotch rite. Its emblematic colour 
is red, and its principal officers are a Thrice Puissant representing 
Solomon, a Senior Warden representing the illustrious Tito, one 
of the Harodim, and a Junior Warden representing Adoniram 
the son of Abda. In the history of the degree, we are told that 
it was instituted to supply a great loss well known to Master 
Masons 

INTIMATE SECRETARY. Secretaire intime. The sixth 
degree m the ancient Scotch rite. Its emblematic colour is black, 
strewed with tears, and its collar and the lining of the apron i 
red. Its officers are only three : Solomon, King of Israel ; H 
ram, King of Tyre j and a Captain of the Guards. Its history 
records an instance of unlawful curiosity, the punishment of which 
was only averted by the previous fidelity of the offender. 

INVESTITURE. See Apron. 

IONIC ORDER. Next to the Doric the oldest order among 
the Greeks. It is more delicate and graceful than the Doric, and 
more majestic than the Corinthian. Its column is fluted with 
twenty-four channels, the abacus is scooped on the side, and the 
principal ornaments of its capital are its two spiral volutes. The ar- 
chitectural judgment and skill displayed in its composition as an 
intermediate order, between the rude massiveness of the Doric 
and the extraneous beauty of the Corinthian, has occasioned it to 
be adopted as the column of Wisdom that supports the lodge. Its 
appropriate situation and symbolic officer are in the E.\ 

IRISH DEGREES. The establishment of certain degrees, 
called by this title, such as the Irish Master, Perfect Irish Master, 
Puissant Irish Master, and many others of a similiar nature, was 
an attempt on the part of the adherents of the exiled house of 
Stuart, to give to Freemasonry a political bias, and to enlist the 



ISH— IZA 221 

members of the fraternity on the side of King James, and his son 
the pretender. 

ISH CHOTZEB. The hewers who were engaged in felling 
timber on Mt. Lebanon for the building of Solomon's temple. 
They amounted to 80,000. See 1 Kings v. 15, and 2. Chron. 
ii. 18. Webb calls them Fellow Crafts, but Webb's arrangement 
of the workmen at the temple is not a correct one. 

ISH S ABAL. The bearers of burdens at the building of the 
temple. They amounted to 70,000. See 1 Kings v. 15, and 2. 
Chron. ii. 18. They are the Entered Apprentices of Webb, but 
the old writers say that they were not masons, but the descend- 
ants of the ancient Canaanites. 

ISH SOUDY. It is a corrupted form of the Hebrew &*$ 
)*")}£), ish sodij "a man who is my confidant or familiar friend;" 
and hence it is masonically interpreted to signify " a man of my 
choice" or " a select mason." A similar expression is to be found 
in Job. xix. 19, rnati sodi, that is," the men of my intimacy, u or 
as it has been translated in the common version " my inward 
friends." 

IZABUD. Properly Zahud. He is mentioned in 1 Kings, 
iv. 5, as " the principal officer 'and the king's friend." Kitto, 
speaking of the position held by Izabud or Zabud in the house- 
hold of Solomon, says that the term " king's friend"' implies the 
possession of the utmost confidence of, and familiar intercourse 
with, the monarch, to whose person "the friend" at all times has 
access, and whose influence is therefore often greater, even in mat- 
ters of state, than that of the recognised ministers of government."* 
Zabud, under the corrupted name of Izabud, is an important per- 

* Cyckped. Bib. Literat. in voc. Zabud. See also Ja-hn, Bib. Arcbaec 1 . 

2 236. IV. 

19* 



222 JAC 

sonage in the degree of Select Master, where his peculiar position 
in the household of King Solomon is correctly defined according to 
the definition of Kitto. 



JACHIN. The name of the right hand pillar that stood at the 
porch of King Solomon's temple. It is derived from two Hebrew 
words, rp jali, "God" and fO* iacJiin, "will establish." It 
signifies, therefore, " God will establish." 

JACOB'S LADDER. When Jacob, by the command of his 

father Isaac, was journeying towards Padan-aram, while sleeping 
one night with the bare earth for his couch and a stone for his 
pillow, he beheld the vision of a ladder whose foot rested on the 
earth and its top reached to heaven. Angels were continually 
ascending and descending upon it, and promised him the blessing 
of a numerous and happy posterity. When Jacob awoke, he was 
filled with pious gratitude, and consecrated the spot as the house 
of God.* 

This ladder, so remarkable in the history of the Jewish people, 
has also occupied a conspicuous place among the symbols of ma- 
sonry. Its true origin was lost among the worshippers of the 
Pagan rites, but the symbol itself, in various modified forms, was 
retained. Among them it was always made to consist of seven 
rounds, which might, as Oliver suggests, have been in allusion 
either to the seven stories of the Tower of Babel, or to the Sab- 
batical period. In the Persian mysteries of Mithras, the ladder 
of seven rounds was symbolical of the soul's approach to perfec- 
tion. These rounds were called gates, and in allusion to them 



Genesis, ch. xxv.ii. 



J AC 223 

the candidate was made t_> pass through seven dark and winding 
caverns, which process was called the ascent of the ladder of per- 
fection. Each of these caverns was the representative of a world, 
or state of existence through which the soul was supposed to pass 
in its progress from the first world to the last, or the world of 
truth. Each round of the ladder was said to be of metal of in- 
creasing purity, and was dignified also with the name of its pro- 
tecting planet. Some idea of the construction of this symbolic 
ladder may be stained from the following table : 



7 Gold, 


Sun, 


Truth. 


6 Silver, 


Moon, 


Mansion of the Blessed. 


5 Iron, 


Mars, 


World of Births. 


4 Tin, 


Jupiter, 


Middle World. 


3 Copper ; 


Venus, 


Heaven. 


2 Quicksilver, 


Mercury, 


World of Pre-existence. 


1 Lead, 


Saturn, 


First World. 



Thus, too, in all the mysteries of the ancients, we find some 
allusion to this sacred ladder, requiring, it is true, in some in- 
stances, considerable ingenuity to trace the identity. Even in the 
Edda of the Scandinavians we find the great tree Ygdrasil, which 
Dr. Oliver concludes, for the most sufficient reasons, to be ana 
logons with the ladder of Jacob. 

Among the Hebrews the staves of the ladder were originally 
supposed to be infinite. The Essenians first reduced them to 
seven, which were called the Sephiroth, whose names were 
Strength, Mercy, Beauty, Eternity, Grlory, the Foundation, and 
the Kingdom. 

Among Freemasons the principal rounds only are named, and 
they are Faith, Hope, and Charity, because masonry is founded 
upon Faith in Glod, Hope of Immortality, and Charity to all 
mankind. But of these, Charity is the greatest; for Faith ends 
in sight, Hope terminates in fruition, but Charity extends beyond 
the grave. It is by the practice of these virtues that the Mason 
expects to find access to Him who is the subject of Faith, the 
object of Hope, and the eternal fountain of Charity. Hence it is 



224 JAC— JEH 

symbolically sal 1, that Masons hope to reach the clouded canopy 
of their lodge by the assistance of Jacob's Theological Ladder. 

JACQUES DE MOLAY. The celebrated Grand Master of 
the Knights Templar at the time of their suppression by Philip 
the Fair and Pope Clement V. De Molay was elected Grand 
Master in 1297, and suffered martyrdom by being burnt to death 
on the 18th of March, 1314. See Knights Templar. 

JAH. The Syriac name of God. It was also used by the 
Hebrews as an abbreviation of Jehovah, and seems to have been 
well known to the Gentile nations as the triliteral name of God ; 
for, although biliteral among the Hebrews, it assumed among the 
Greeks the triliteral form, as IAQ. Macrobius, in his Saturnalia, 
says that this was the sacred name of the Supreme Deity, and the 
Clarian Oracle being asked which of the gods was Jao, replied, 
" The initiated are bound to conceal the mysterious secrets. Learn 
thou that I Aft is the Great God Supreme who ruleth over all." 
See the word Jehovah. 

JEHOSAPHAT. The Valley of Jehosaphat is situated east 
of Jerusalem, between Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives. In 
the ancient rituals of our order the Valley of Jehosaphat played 
an important part, but it is now very much neglected in the modern 
working of the lodges. It has been supposed, in consequence of 
the prophecy of Joel (iii. 13,) that this valley is to be the scene 
of the final judgment. The word itself denotes " the Lord judg- 
eth," and hence Hutchinson says that the spiritual lodge is 
placed in the Valley of Jehosaphat to imply that the principles 
of masonry are derived from the knowledge of God, and are 
established in the judgments of the Lord. 

JEHOVAH. The ineffable name of God. In Hebrew, it 
consists of four letters m»T and is hence called the nonien te- 
tragrammato* or quadriliteral name. It is derived from the 



JEH 225 

substantive verb niH havah, to be; and, as it combines in itself 
the present, past, and future forms of the verb, it is to be con- 
sidered as designating God as immutable, eternal, the only being 
who can say forever, " I am that I am." This name was first an- 
nounced to Moses by God, when he appeared to him in the burn- 
ing bush; on which occasion he said, "this is my name forever, 
and this is my memorial unto all generations." (Ex. iii. 15.) 
It was considered unlawful to pronounce this name of God, except 
on one sacred occasion, (the day of the atonement,) when it was 
only uttered by the High Priest in the holy of holies, amid the 
sound of trumpets and cymbals, which prevented the people from 
hearing it. This custom no doubt originally arose from a wish to 
prevent its becoming known to the surrounding nations, and being 
by them blasphemously applied to their idols. Some of the Jews 
afterward attempted, by an ingenious corruption of the text of 
Exodus above quoted, to defend the custom by the authority of 
Scripture. By the change of a single letter, they made the word 
Volam, which signifies "forever," read Valam, that is, "to be 
concealed," and hence the passage was translated, " this is my 
name to be concealed," instead of "this is my name forever." 
And thus Josephus, in writing upon this subject, uses the fol- 
lowing expressions : " Whereupon God declared to Moses his holy 
name which had never been discovered to men before; concerning 
which it is not lawful for me to say any more."* In obedience 
to this law, whenever the word Jehovah occurs to a Jew in read- 
ing, he abstains from pronouncing it, and substitutes in its place 
the word Adonai or Lord. In consequence of the people thus 
abstaining from its utterance, the true pronunciation of the name 
was at length lost. Nor is the question yet definitely settled, some 
Orientalists contending, on orthographical grounds, that Jehovah 
is the true pronunciation, while others, on the authority of certain 
ancient writers, assert that it was pronounced JAO.f 

* Antiquities of the Jews. Whiston's trans.; B. II. c. 1 2. 
f The tusk is difficult to make one, unacquainted with the structure of the 
Hebrew language, comprehend how the pronunciation of a word, whose letters 



226 JEH 

Some learned Jews even doubt whether Jehovah be the true 
name of God, which they consider to have been irrecoverably lost, 
and they say that this is one of the mysteries that will be re- 
vealed only at the coming of the Messiah. They attribute this loss 
to the sinful habit of applying the masoretic points to so sacred a 
name, in consequence of which the true vowels were lost. They 
even relate the legend of a celebrated Hebrew scholar whom God 
permitted to be burnt by a Roman emperor, because he had been 
heard to pronounce the holy name with these points.* 

This dispute is not likely to be terminated by a reference to 
ancient authorities, among whom there is too great a discrepancy in 
relation to the name to be easily reconciled. Irengeus calls it 
Jaoth, Isidore says it is Jodjod, Diodorus Siculus, Jao, Clemens 
of Alexandria, Jau, and Theodoret says that the Hebrews pro- 
nounced it Ja, and the Samaritans Javah. 



are preserved, can be wholly lost. It may be attempted, however, in the fol- 
lowing manner. The Hebrew alphabet consists entirely of consonants. The 
vowel sounds were originally supplied by the reader while reading, he being 
previously made acquainted with the correct pronunciation of each word, and 
if he did not possess this knowledge the letters before him could not supply it, and 
he was, of course, unable to pronounce the word. Every Hebrew, however, knew 
from practice, the vocal sounds with which the consonants were pi-onounced 
in the different words, in the same manner as every English reader knows 
the different sounds of a in hat, hate, all, icas, and that lent is pronounced knight. 
The words " God save the republic," written in the Hebrew method, would ap- 
pear thus : " Gd sv th rpblc." Now this incommunicable name of God con- 
sists, as we have already observed, of four letters, Yod, He, Vav, and He, equi- 
valent, in English, to the combination JHVH. It is now, we presume, evident, 
that these four letters cannot, in our own language, be pronounced, unless at 
least two vowels be supplied. Neither can they in Hebrew. In other words 
the vowels were known to the Jew, because he heard the words continually 
pronounced, just as we know that Mr. stand for dlister, because we continually 
hear this combination so pronounced. But the name of God, of which these 
four letters are symbols, was never pronounced, but another word, adonai, sub- 
stituted for it; and hence, as the letters themselves have no vocal power, the 
Jew, not knowing the implied vowels, was unable to supply them, and thus the 
pronunciation of the word was, in time, entirely lost. 
& Oliver, Insignia of the Royal Arch, p. 15. 



JEH 227 

The Grand, Elect, Perfect and Sublime Masons tell us that the 
pronunciation varied among the patriarchs in different ages. 
Methuselah, Larnech, and Noah pronounced it Julia;* Shem, 
Arphaxad, Selah, Heber and Peleg pronounced it Jieva ; lieu, 
Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abraham, Isaac and Juclah called it Jova ; 
by Hezroni and Earn it was pronounced Jevo ; by Aminadab and 
Nasshon, Jevah ; by Salmon, Boaz, and Obed, Johe ; by Jesse 
and David, Jehovah. And they imply that none of these was 
the right pronunciation, which was only in the possession of 
Enoch, Jacob, and Moses, whose names are, therefore, not men- 
tioned in this list. 

Lancrf" says that the word should be read from left to right, 
and pronounced HO— HI, that is to say, " He-She ;" ho being 
in Hebrew the masculine pronoun, and hi the feminine. Ho— Hi, 
(hi pronounced he,) therefore, denotes the male and female prin- 
ciple, the vis geuitrix, the phallus and lingam, the point within 
the circle, the notion of which, in some one form or another of 
this double gender, pervades all the ancient systems as the re- 
presentative of the creative power. 

Thus one of the names given by the mythological writers to 
the Supreme Jupiter, was appevod-qkoq, the man-icoman. In one 
of the Orphic hymns we find the following line : 

Zel'5 apc-iv yzvzro, Zeus apPp° T °S znXero vv/j«j»]. 
Jove is a male, Jove is an immortal virgin. 

And Plutarch, in his Isis and Osiris, says " God, who is a male 
and female intelligence, being both life and light, brought forth 
another intelligence, the Creator of the world." All the Pagan 

* In all these names the J is to be pronounced as Y, the A as a in father, 
the E as a in mate; thus Jekova must be pronounced as if written Ya-ho-vah. 

f This speculation of Michael Angelo Land, one of the greatest Orientalists 
of the present day, I have at second-hand. His great work — intended to be, 
indeed, an opus magnum — has not been published, and I am indebted for this, 
as well as many other of his investigations, to my learned friend, George 11. 
Grliddon, Esq., who was a pupil of this illustrious scholar. 



228 JEH 

gods and goddesses, however various their appellation, were but 
different expressions for the male and female principle. " In 
fact," says Russel,* u they may all be included in the one great 
Hermaphrodite, the afipevoffyXu*; ; who combines in his nature all 
the elements of production, and who continues to support the vast 
creatiou which originally proceeded from his will." 

The Jews believed that this holy name, which they held in 
the highest veneration, was possessed of unbounded powers. " He 
who pronounces it," say they, " shakes heaven and earth, and 
inspires the very angels with astonishment and terror. There is 
a sovereign authority in this name ; it governs the world by its 
power. The other names and surnames of the Deity are ranged 
about it like officers and soldiers about their sovereigns and ge- 
nerals ; from this king-name, they receive their orders and obey."'}" 
The Rabbins call it shem hamphorash, the unutterable name, 
and say that David found it engraved on a stone while he was 
digging the foundations of the earth. 

Manasseh Ben Israel states it as the opinion of the Cabbalists, 
that Jehovah is not only the name of the divine essence, but that 
it also denotes the Aziluthic world, or world of emanations, which 
contains the ten Sephiroth, or emanations from the Deity which 
compose the universe, according the Rabbinical philosophy. 

The Hebrew substantive verb I am, which is rrHN* is said 
by the Talmudists to be equivalent to HIPP, anc * the four letters of 
which it is formed possess peculiar properties. X is in Hebrew 
numerically equivalent to 1, and * to 10, which is equal to 11, a 
result also obtained by taking the second and third letters of the 
holy name, or ,1 an d *[, which are 5 and 6, amounting to 11. But 
the 5 and 6 invariably produce the same number in their multi- 
plication, for 5 times 5 are 25, and 6 times 6 are 36, and this 
invariable product of ,1 and ■) was said to denote the unchange- 
ableness of the First Cause. Again lam rVHN commences with 



* Connection of Sacred and Profane History, vol. 1. p. 402. 
fCalmet, Diet. Bib. I. 751. 



JEH 229 

K or 1, the beginning of numbers, and Jehovah, ,11 i"P with * or 
10, the end of numbers, which signified that God was the begin- 
ning and end of all things.* There are many other Talmudical 
exercitations on the ineffable name which it is unnecessary to 
dwell upon. To the Hebrew student most of them are familiar; 
to any other they would be uninteresting or inexplicable. 

The pronunciation of the name was preserved and transmitted 
by the Essenes, who always communicated it to each other in a 
whisper, and in a such a form, that while its component parts 
were known, its connected whole still remained a mystery. 

It is said, too, to have been the pass-word in the Egyptian 
Mysteries, by which the candidate was admitted to the chambers 
of initiation. The modern Jews say it was engraved on the rod 
of Moses, and enabled him to perform his miracles, and they 
attribute all the wonderful works of Jesus Christ to the potency 
of this incommunicable name, which they say he stole out of the 
temple and wore about him. 

The Jews had four symbols by which they expressed this inef- 
fable name of God; the first and most common was two Joels with 
a Sheva, and- the point Kanietz underneath, thus * * ; the second 
was three points in a radiated form like a diadem, thus / \ \ 
to represent, in all probability, the sovereignty of God ; the third 
was a Jod within an equilateral triangle thus, /^ which the Cab- 
balists explained as a ray of light whose lustre was too transcen- 
dent to be contemplated by human eyes; and- the fourth was the 
letter &, which is the initial letter of Shaded, " the Almighty," 
and was the symbol usually placed upon their phylacteries. Bux- 
torf mentions a fifth method, which was by three Jods with a 
Kanietz underneath inclosed in a circle. 

Of the varieties of this sacred name in use among the different 
nations of the earth, three particularly merit the attention of Koyal 
Arch Masons. 



* For these Talmudical remarks, I am indebted to my learned friend, W. S, 
Hockwell, Esq., of Milledgeville, Ga. 

20 



230 JER 

1. Jah. This name of God is found in the 68th Psalm, v. 
4 : " Extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah." 
It is the Syriac name of God, and is still retained in some of the 
Syriac forms of doxology, according to G-esenius. 

2. Bel, or Baal. This word signifies a lord, master, or pos- 
sessor ; and hence it was applied by many of the nations of the 
East, to denote the Lord of all things, and the Master of the 
world. Baal was worshipped by the Chaldeans, the Moabites, 
the Phenicians, the Assyrians, and sometimes even by the He- 
brews. It has been supposed that the first Baal was the Chaldean 
Nimrod. This word is repeatedly met with in the Scriptures, 
both in allusion to the idolatrous worship of this god, aud in con- 
nection with other words, to denote the names of places. 

8. On. This was the name by which Jehovah was worshipped 
among the Egyptians. It is this God of whom Plato speaks in 
his Tiniseus, when he says, " tell me of the God On ; which is and 
never knew beginning." The Egyptians gave to this God the 
same attributes that the Hebrews bestowed upon Jehovah, and 
though we are unable to say what was the signification of On 
in the ancient Egyptian, we know that this word in Greek, J2X, 
lias the same signification of being or existence as niPT* has in 
Hebrew. The Hindoos used the word Aum or Aun. 

I have made these remarks on the three names of God in 
Syriac, Chaldaic, and Egyptian, Jah, Bel, and On, in the 
expectation that my Royal Arch companions will readily recog- 
nise them in a corrupted form, and thus be enabled to understand 
a mystery which, I confess, was to me, at first, unintelligible. 

JERUSALEM. The capital of Judea and the jity of the 
Holy 'Temple — memorable as the scene of many events that are 
dear to the Mason's memory. At the time that the Israelites 
entered the Promised Land, the city was in possession of the 
Jebusites, from whom, after the death of Joshua, it was conquered, 
and afterwards inhabited by the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, 
although Mount Ziou for a long period subsequent continued to 



JEW 231 

be occupied by the descendants of Jehus, and in the reign of 
David that monarch is said to have purchased Mount Moriah 
from Oman the Jebusite, who had used it as a threshing floor. 
Here, afterwards, Solomon was permitted to build a temple to 
the Lord. 

JEWELS. Every lodge is furnished with six jewels, three 
of which are movable and three immovable. The movable 
jewels, so called because they are not confined to any particular 
part of the lodge, are the rough ashlar, the perfect ashlar, and 
the trestle board. The immovable jewels are the square, the level, 
and the plumb. They are termed immovable, because they are 
appropriated to particular parts of the lodge, where alone they 
should be found, namely, the square to the east, the level to the 
west, and the plumb to the south. 

Jewels are also the names applied to the emblems worn by the 
officers of Masonic bodies as distinctive badges of their offices. 
For the purpose of reference the jewels worn in symbolic lodges, 
in chapters, council 3, and encampments, are here appended. 
1. In Symbolic Lodges. 



W.\ Master 


wears a square. 


Senior Warden 


a 


a level. 


Junior Warden 


u 


a plumb. 


Treasurer 


a 


cross keys. 


Secretary 


a 


cross pens. 


Senior Deacon 


a 


square and compass, 
sud in the centre. 


Junior Deacon* 


a 


square and compass 
moon in the centre. 


Steward 


a 


a cornucopia. 


Tyler 


a 


cross swords. 


The jewels are of silver 


in a 


subordinate lodge, and of gold u 


a Grand Lods-e. 






* In English lodges 


the jewel of the Deacons is a dove. 
20 



232 



JEW 



High Priest 



2. In Royal Arch Chapters. 
wears a mitre. 



a level surmounted by a 

crown, 
a plumb-rule surmounted 

by a turban. 
a triangular plate inscribed 

with a soldier. 
a triangular plate inscribed 

with a pilgrim, 
a sword 
a sword. 

The other officers as in a symbolic lodge. All the jewels are of 
gold, and suspended within an equilateral triangle. 
3. In Royal and Select Councils. 
T. I. Grand Master wears a trowel and square. 



King " 

Scribe " 

Captain of the Host " 

Principal Sojourner " 

Royal Arch Captain " 
Grand Master of the Veils " 



I. Hiram of Tyre " 
Principal Conductor of " 

the works. 

Treasurer " 

Recorder " 

Captain of the Guards " 

Steward " 

Marshal " 



a trowel and level, 
a trowel and plumb. 

a trowel and cross keys, 
a trowel and cross pens, 
a trowel and sword, 
a trowel and cross swords, 
a trowel and baton. 



If a conductor of the Council is used, he wears a trowel and 
baton and then a scroll is added to the Marshal's baton to distin- 
guish the two officers. 

All the jewels are of silver and are enclosed within an equi- 
lateral triangle. 

4. In Commanderies of Knights Templars. 

Eminent Commander wears a cross surmounted by 



Generalissimo 



Captain General 



rays of light. 
a square surmounted by 
a paschal lamb, 
a level surmounted by a 

cock. 





JEW- JOA 


Prelate 


wears 


Senior Warden 


a 


Junior Warden 


tt 


Treasurer 


a 


Recorder 


a 


Standard Bearer 


a 



233 



Warder 

Three Guards 

The jewels are of silver. 



a triple triangle, 
a hollow square and 

sword of justice, 
eagle and flaming sword, 
cross keys, 
cross pens, 
a plumb surmounted by 

a banner. 
a square plate inscribed 

with a trumpet and 

cross swords. 
a square plate inscribed 
with a battle-axe. 



JEWEL OF AN ANCIENT GRAND MASTER. A masonic 
tradition informs us that the Jewel of an ancient Grand Master 
at the Temple was the square and compass with the letter Gl 
between. This was the jewel worn by Hiram Abif on the day 
which deprived the craft of his invaluable services, and which 
was subsequently found upon him. 

JOABERT. This was the name of the chief favourite of 
Solomon, who, according to the traditions of masonry, incurred the 
displeasure of Hiram of Tyre on a certain occasion, but was subse- 
quently pardoned ; and, on account of the great attachment he had 
shown to the person of his master, was appointed the Secretary of 
Solomon and Hiram in their most intimate relations. He was 
afterward still further promoted by Solomon, and appointed with 
Tito and Adoniram a Provost and Judge. He distinguished him- 
self in his successful efforts to bring certain traitors to condign 
punishment, and although by his rashness he at first excited the 
anger of the king, he was subsequently forgiven, and eventually 
received the highest reward that Solomon could bestcw, by being 
made an Elect, Perfect, and Sublime Mason. 

20* 



234 " JOH— JOP 

JOHANNITE MASONRY. That system of masonry which 
contends for the dedication of all symbolic lodges to St. John the 
Baptist and St. John the Evangelist. This is the system now 
practised in the United States, and formerly in England. Since 
the union in 1813, a change has been effected in the latter coun- 
try, in whose lodges the "lines parallel" are said to represent 
Moses and King Solomon. But this is admitted to be an in- 
novation, and the most celebrated masonic writer of England, 
Dr. Oliver, has written a series of " Letters on Johannite Ma- 
sonry," in which he strongly argues for the restoration of the 
ancient parallelism. 

JOHN'S BROTHERS. In a curious masonic document, 
entitled the Charter of Cologne, it is said that before the year 
1440, the Society of Freemasons were known by no other name 
than that of " John's Brothers;" that they then began to be 
called at Valenciennes, Free and Accepted Masons; and that at 
that time, in some parts of Flanders, by the assistance and riches 
of the brotherhood, the first hospitals were erected for the relief 
of such as were afflicted with St. Anthony's fire. 

JOPPA. A town of Palestine and the seaport of Jerusalem, 
from which it is distant about forty miles in a westerly direction. 
It was here that the King of Tyre sent ships laden with timber 
and marble to be forwarded overland to Solomon for the construc- 
tion of the Temple. Its shore is exceedingly rough and much 
dreaded by navigators, who, on account of its exposure and the 
perpendicularity of its banks, are compelled to be perpetually on 
their guard. The following extract from the narrative of the 
Baron Geramb, a Trappist, who visited the Holy Land in 1842, 
will be interesting to Mark Masters. " Yesterday morning at 
daybreak, boats put off and surrounded the vessel to take us to 
the town (of Joppa,) the access to which is difficult on account of 
the numerous rocks that present to view their bare flanks. The 
walls were covered with spectators, attracted by curiosity. The 



JOS— JUR 235 

boats being much lower than the bridge, upon which one is obliged 
tc climb, and having no ladder, the landing is not effected without 
danger. More than once it has happened, that passengers in 
springing out have broken their limbs, and we might have met 
with the like accident, if several persons had not hastened to our 
assistance."* The place is now called Jaffa. 

JOSHUA, or JESHUA. The High Priest who with Ze- 
rubbabel the Prince of Judah, superintended the re-building of the 
Temple, after the Babylonian captivity. He was the High Priest 
by lineal descent from the Pontifical family ; for he was the son 
of Josadek, who was the son of Seraiah, who was the High Priest 
when the Temple was destroyed by the Chaldeans. 

JUDAH. The whole of Palestine was sometimes called the 
Land of Judah, because Judah was a distinguished tribe in ob- 
taining possession of the country. The tribe of Judah bore a 
Lion in their standard, and hence the masonic allusion to the 
Lion of the tribe of Judah. See also Genesis xlix. 9. " Judah is 
a lion's whelp." 

JUDAH AND BENJAMIN. Of the twelve tribes of Israel 
who were, at various times carried into captivity, only two, those 
of Judah and Benjamin, returned under Zerubbabel to rebuild the 
second temple. 

JUNIOR WARDEN. See Wardens. 

JURISDICTION. The jurisdiction of a Grand Lodge extends 
over every lodge working within its territorial limits, and over all 
places not already occupied by a Grand Lodge. The territorial 
limits of a Grand Lodge are determined in general by the political 
boundaries of the country in which it is placed. Thus the terri- 
torial limits of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina are circum- 

* Pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Mount Sinai. Vol. i. p. 27. 



236 JUS— KAD 

scribed within the settled boundaries of that State. Nor can ita 
jurisdiction extend beyond these limits into the neighbouring 
States of North Carolina or Georgia. The Grand Lodge of 
South Carolina could not, therefore, without an infringement of 
masonic usage, grant a warrant of constitution to any lodge 
located in either of these latter States. It might, however, 
grant a charter for a lodge in any Territory if there is not in 
existence a Grand Lodge of that Territory. Thus the lodges of 
France held of the Grand Lodge of England, until the formation 
of a Grand Lodge of France, and the Grand Lodges of both 
England, Scotland, and France, granted warrants to various 
lodges in America, until after the Revolution, when the States 
began to organize Grand Lodges for themselves. For the pur- 
pose of avoiding collision and unfriendly feeling, it has become 
the settled usage, that when a Grand Lodge has been legally 
organized in a State, all the lodges within its limits must sur- 
render the charters which they have received from foreign bodies, 
aud accept new ones from the recently established Grand Lodge. 

JUSTICE. One of the four cardinal virtues, the practice of 
which is inculcated in the first degree. The Mason who re- 
members how emphatically he has been charged to preserve an 
upright position in all his dealings with mankind, should never 
fail to act justly to himself, to his brethren, and to the world. 
This is the corner-stone on which alone he can expect " to erect 
a superstructure alike honourable to himself and to the fraternity." 



K. 



KADOSH. This is the name of a very important degree in 
many of the rites of masonry. The word is Hebrew, and sig- 
nifies holy, consecrated, separated, and is intended to denote the 



KAS 237 

elevated character of the degree and the sublimity of the truths 
which distinguish it and its possessors from the other degrees . 
Pluche says that in the East, a person preferred to honours bore 
a sceptre, and sometimes a plate of gold on the forehead, called 
a Kadosh* to apprise the people that the bearer of this mark or 
rod was a public person who possessed the privilege of entering 
into hostile camps without the fear of losing his personal liberty. 

The degree of Kadosh, though found in many of the rites and 
in various countries, seems, in all of them, to have been more or 
less connected with the Knights Templars. In some of the rites 
it was placed at the head of the list, and was then dignified as 
the " ne plus ultra" of masonry. 

It was sometimes given as a separate order or rite within 
itself, and then it was divided into the three degrees of Illus- 
trious Knight of the Temple, Knight of the Black Eagle, and 
Grand Elect. 

Oliver enumerates six degrees of Kadosh : the Knight 
Kadosh ; Kadosh of the Chapter of Clermont ; Philosophical 
Kadosh • Kadosh Prince of Death ; and Kadosh of the Ancient 
and Accepted Scotch rite. 

Ragon speaks of a Kadosh which is said to have been esta- 
blished at Jerusalem in 1118, but I imagine that this can be no 
other than the order of Knights Templars. 

Of these degrees, we need pay little attention to any except that 
of the Ancient and Accepted Scotch rite, the most important 
of the few that continue to be worked. See Knight of Kadosh. 

KASSIDEANS. (Heb. chasidim, pious.') The Kassideans 
or Assideans, (though the etymology of the word indicates that 
the former is the better spelling,) are described in the 1st Book 
of Maccabees ii. 42, as "mighty men of Israel, such as were 
voluntarily devoted unto the law," They were a fraternity emi- 
nently pious and charitable, who devoted themselves particularly 
to repairing the Temple and keeping it in order. They were, 

* Whence probably is derived the Caduceus of Mercury. 



238 KEY 

therefore, not only content to pay the usual tribute, but charged 
themselves with greater expense on that account. Their usual 
oatn was " by the temple/' This sect arose either during the 
captivity, or soon after the restoration. Scaliger contends that 
they were the source whence, in after times, sprung the Essenes, 
that body whose close connection with the Freemasons has been 
so much insisted on by certain writers. Hence Lawrie infers 
their relationship to the architects who built the house of the 
Lord for Solomon, and calls them " Knights of the Temple of 
Jerusalem." They were, in fact, the conservators of masonry 
among the Jews, and deposited it with their successors, the 
Essenians, who brought it down beyond the times of Christ. 

KEY. The key was anciently an emblem of power, and as 
such has been adopted as the jewel of the Treasurer in a Blue 
lodge, because he has the purse under his command. The key 
is also a symbol of silence and circumspection, and as such has 
been adopted as one of the emblems of the Royal Arch Tracing 
Board. " The key," says Dr. Oliver, " is one of the most im- 
portant symbols of Freemasonry. It bears the appearance of a 
common metal instrument, confined to the performance of one 
simple act. But the well instructed brother beholds in it the 
symbol which teaches him to keep a tongue of good report, and 
to abstain from the debasing vices of slander and defamation."* 

KEY OF MASONRY. See Knight of the Sun. 

KEl r -STONE. That stone placed in the centre of an arch 
which preserves the others in their places, and secures firmness 
and stability to the arch. As it was formerly the custom of 
operative masons to place a peculiar mark on each stone of a 
building to designate the workman by whom it had been ad- 
justed, so the Key-Stone was most likely to receive the most 
prominent mark, that of the superintendent of the structure. 

* Historical Landmarks, I. 180. 



KIL 239 

Such is related to have occurred to that Key-Stone which plays 
so important a part in the legend of the Royal Arch degree. 

The objection has sometimes been made, that the arch was 
unknown to the times of Solomon. But this objection has been 
completely laid at rest by the researches of antiquaries and 
travellers within a few years past. Wilkinson discovered arches 
with regular key-stones in the doorways of the tombs of Thebes, 
the construction of which he traced to the year 1540, B. C, or 
460 years before the building of the Temple of Solomon. And 
Dr. Clark asserts that the Cycoplean gallery of Tyrius exhibits 
lancet-shaped arches almost as old as the times of Abraham. In 
fact, at the era of the building of the Temple, the construction 
of the arch was a secret, which was, however, known to the 
Dionysian Artificers, many of whom were present and engaged 
in the works of the Temple, and of which society we have else- 
where said that there was every reason to believe that Hiram 
Abif was a member. 

KILWINNING. As the city of York claims to be the 
birthplace of masonry in England, the obscure little village of 
Kilwinning is entitled to the same honour with respect to the 
origin of the order in tho sister kingdom of Scotland. A place, 
in itself small and wholly undistinguishable in the political, the 
literary, or the commercial annals of its country, has become of 
great importance in the estimation of the masonic antiquary from 
its intimate connection with the history of the institution. 

The abbey of Kilwinning is situated in the bailiwick of Cun- 
ningham, about three miles north of the royal burgh of Irving, 
near the Irish Sea. The abbey was founded in the year 11-10, 
by Hugh Morville, Constable of Scotland, and dedicated to St. 
Winning, being intended for a company of monks of the Tyro- 
nesian order, who had been brought from Kelso. The edifice 
must have been constructed at great expense, and with much 
magnificence, since it is said to have occupied several acres of 
ground in if s whole extent. 



240 KIL 

Laurie says, that, by authentic documents as well as by other 
collateral arguments which amount almost to a demonstration, 
the existence of the Kilwinning lodge has been traced back as 
far as the end of the fifteenth century, But we know that the 
body of architects who perambulated the continent of Europe, 
under the name of " Travelling Freemasons," flourished at a 
much earlier period; and we learn, also, from Laurie himself, 
that several of these Masons travelled into Scotland, about the 
beginning of the twelfth century.* Hence, we have every 
reason to suppose that these men were the architects who con- 
structed the abbey at Kilwinning, and who first established the 
institution of Freemasonry in Scotland. If such be the fact, we 
must place the origin of the first lodge in that kingdom at an 
earlier date, by three centuries, than that claimed for it by 
Laurie, which would bring it much nearer, in point of time, to 
the great Masonic Assembly, convened in the year 926, by 
Prince Edwin, at York, in England. 

There is some collateral evidence to sustain the probability of 
this early commencement of masonry in Scotland. It is very 
generally admitted that the Royal Order of Herodem was 
founded by King Robert Bruce, at Kilwinning. Thory, in the 
"Acta Latamorum," gives the following chronicle: "Robert 
Bruce, King of Scotland, under the title of Robert L, created 
the order of St. Andrew of Chardon, after the battle of Ban- 
nockburn, which was fought on the 24th of June, 1314. To 
this order was afterward united that of Herodem, for the sake 
of the Scotch Masons, who formed a part of the thirty thousand 
troops with whom he had fought an army of one hundred thou- 
sand Englishmen. King Robert reserved the title of Grand 
Master to himself and his successors forever, and founded the 
Royal Grand Lodge of Herodem at Kilwinning. 

Dr. Oliver says that " the Ptoyal Order of Herodem had 
formerly its chief seat at Kilwinning ; and there is every reason 



* History of Freemasonry, p. 89. 



KIL 241 

to think that it and St. John's masonry were then governed by 
the same Grand Lodge." 

In 1820, there was published, at Paris, a record which states 
that in 1286, James, Lord Stewart, received the Earls of Glou- 
cester and Ulster into his lodge at Kilwinning, which goes to 
prove that a lodge was then existing and in active operation at 
that place. 

I confess that I am disposed to give some credit to the autho- 
rity of these documents. They, at least, furnish the evidence 
that there has been a general belief among the fraternity of the 
antiquity of the Kilwinning Lodge. Those, however, whose faith 
is of a more hesitating character, will find the most satisfactory 
testimonies of the existence of that lodge in the beginning of the 
fifteenth century. At that period, when James II. was on the 
throne, the Barons of Roslin, as hereditary Grand Masters of 
Scotland, held their annual meetings at Kilwinning, and the 
lodge at that place granted warrants of constitution for the for- 
mation of subordinate lodges in other parts of the kingdom. 
The lodges thus formed, in token of their respect for, and sub- 
mission to, the mother lodge, whence they derived their existence, 
affixed the word Kilwinning to their own distinctive name, many 
instances of which are still to be found on the register of the 
Grand Lodge of Scotland — such as Cannongate Kilwinning, 
Greenock Kilwinning, Cumberland Kilwinning, &c. 

But, in process of time, this Grand Lodge at Kilwinning 
ceased to retain its supremacy, and finally its very existence. 
As in the case of the sister kingdom, where the Grand Lodge 
was removed from York, the birthplace of English masonry, to 
Londou, so in Scotland, the supreme seat of the order was at 
length transferred from Kilwinning to the metropolis; and 
hence, in the document entitled the " Charter of Cologne," 
which purports to have been written in 15o5, we find, in a list 
of nineteen Grand Lodges in Europe, that that of Scotland is 
mentioned as sitting at Ediuburg, under the Grand Mastership of 
John Bruce. In 1743, the Lodge of Kilwinning, although uni 

21 



242 KIN 

versally admitted to have been the cradle of Scottish masonry, 
was compelled to content itseif with the second number on the 
register of the Grand Lodge, in consequence of its records 
having been destroyed by fire, while the lodge of St. Mary's 
Chapel, having been more fortunate in preserving its archives as 
far back as the year 1598, received the first number and the pre- 
cedence among the lodges of Scotland. 

Here terminates the connection of Kilwinning as a place of 
any importance with Scottish masonry. A lodge long continued 
to exist there, and may probably still remain ; but its honours 
and dignities consist only in the recollections of its venerable 
origin, and in the union of its name with many of the most opu- 
lent and respectable lodges of Scotland. As for the abbey, the 
stupendous fabric which was executed by the Freemasons who 
first migrated into Scotland, its history, like that of the lodge 
which they founded, is one of decline and decay. In 1560 it 
was in a great measure demolished by Alexander, Earl of Glen- 
oairne, in obedience to an order from the States of Scotland, in 
the exercise of their usurped authority during the imprisonment 
of Mary Stuart. A few years afterward, a part of the abbey 
chapel was repaired and converted into the parish church, and 
was used as such until about the year 1775, whrn, in conse- 
quence of its ruinous and dangerous state, it was pulled down 
and an elegant church erected, in the modern style. In 1789, 
so much of the ancient abbey remained as to enable Grose, the 
antiquary, to take a sketch of the ruins ; but now, not a vestige 
of the building is to be found, nor can its exact site be ascertained 
with any precision. 

KING. The second officer in a Royal Arch Chapter. He is 
the representative of Zerubbabel, prince or governor of Judah. 
When the chapter meets as a lodge of Mark, Past, or Most Excel- 
lent Masters, the King acts as Senior Warden. See Zcrubbabd. 

After the rebuilding of the second temple, the government of 
the Jews was administered by the High Priests as the vice- 



KNE— KNI 243 

.gerents of the Kings of Persia, to whom they paid tribute. 
This is the reason that the High Priest is the presiding officer in 
a chapter, and the King only a subordinate. 

KNEELING. See Genuflection. 

KNIGHTHOOD, ORDERS OF. In the article on the 
Crusades, I have stated the impossibility of admitting that we 
are indebted to them for the introduction of masonry into Eu- 
rope, and the reason assigned was its inconsistency with historical 
facts. The objection, however, does not exist against the opinion 
that the orders of knighthood assumed the masonic character 
from the influence of these wars. On the contrary, we have 
every reason for believing that the knights who visited Palestine 
organized their chivalric system upon the model of the masonic 
institutions which existed there, and into which, we may also 
presume, that most of them were admitted. Upon this subject 
we have something more than mere conjecture to direct us, for 
we are informed by Adler, who wrote an account of the Associa- 
tion of Druses on Mount Libanus, that the Knights Templars 
were actually members of the Syriac fraternities.* 

The oldest order of masonic knighthood is said by a writer in 
the Freemason's Quarterly Review, to be the Rosy Cross of Scot- 
land,")" and the fact that it unites the Trowel with the Sword, an 
union which the more modern orders have sought to avoid, is ad- 
duced as evidence of this antiquity. The same union of the 
Sword and Trowel is likewise adopted by the Knights of the 
East, who also claim to be the most ancient order of masonic 
knighthood. 

KNIGHT OF THE BRAZEN SERPENT. Chevalier du 

Serpent d'airain. The 25th degree in the Ancient Scotch rite. 

* Adler, de Drusis Mont. Liban. 

f This is not the same degree as the Rose Croix of the Ancient and 
Accepted rite. Fur some account of it, see the word Heredom in :his Lexicon. 



244 KNI 

The history of this degree is founded upon the circumstances re- 
lated in numbers, ch. xxi. ver. 6-9 : " And the Lord sent fiery 
serpents among the people, and they bit the people ; and much 
people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and 
said, We have sinned; for we have spoken against the Lord, and 
against thee : pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents 
from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord 
said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a 
pole : and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, 
when he looketh upon it shall live. And Moses made a serpent 
of brass, and put it upon a pole ; and it came to pass, that if a 
serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, 
he lived." The hangings of the lodge are red and blue. A 
transparency, representing the Burning Bush with the Incommu- 
nicable name in the centre, is placed over the throne. A conical 
mount, elevated on five steps, is placed in the centre of the room. 
The lodge has but one light. It is named the Court of Sinai. 
The presiding officer is styled " Most Powerful Grand Master," 
and represents Moses ; the Wardens are called " Ministers," and 
represent Aaron and Joshua; the Orator is styled "Pontiff," 
and the Secretary " Grand Graver." The candidate is called 
" A Traveller." The jewel is a serpent entwined around a tau 
cross, standing upon a triangle, with the inscription HliT- It 
is suspended from a white ribbon. 

The knights say that this degree was founded in the time of 
the Crusades, by John Ralph, who established the order in the 
Holy Land as a military and monastic society, and gave it the 
name of the Brazen Serpent, because it was a part of their obli- 
gation to receive and gratuitously nurse sick travellers, to protect 
them against the attacks of the Saracens, and escort them safely 
to Palestine ; thus alluding to the healing and saving virtues of 
the Brazen Serpent among the Israelites in the wilderness. 

KNIGHT OF THE AMERICAN EAGLE. A side degree, 



KNI 245 

of a military character, which was invented, I think, in Texas 
or some of the Western States. 

KNIGHT OF THE CHRISTIAN MARK, AND GUARD 
OF THE CONCLAVE. The first degree in a Council of the 
Trinity. This order is said to nave been organized by Pope 
Alexander for the defence of his person, and to have been origi- 
nally selected from the most worthy Knights of St. John of 
Jerusalem. Their ceremonies are founded on certain passages in 
the Books of Ezekiel and Jeremiah. The officers are an Invin- 
cible Knight, Senior and Junior Knight, six Grand Ministers, 
Recorder, Treasurer, Conductor, and Guard. The jewel is a 
triangular plate of gold, with the letter G within a five-pointed 
star engraved on one side, and seven eyes on the other. The 
motto of the order is, " Christus regnat, vincit, triumphat. Rex 
regnantium, Dominus dominantium." Christ reigns, conquers 
and triumphs. King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

The degree is given in New- York Commanderies of Knights 
Templar, after the Knight of Malta. 

KNIGHT OF CONSTANTINOPLE, A side degree, insti- 
tuted, doubtless, by some Lecturer, teaching, however, an excel- 
lent moral lesson of humility. Its history has no connection 
whatever with masonry. The degree is not very extensively 
diffused, but several Masons, especially in the Western States, 
are in possession of it. It may be conferred by any Master 
Mason on another, although the proper performance of the cere- 
monies requires the assistance of several. When the degree is 
formally conferred, the body is called a Council, and consists of 
the following officers : Illustrious Sovereign, Chief of the Arti- 
zans, Seneschal, Conductor, Prefect of the Palace, and Captain 
of the Guards. 

KNIGHT OF THE EAGLE. See Rose Croix. 
21* 



246 KNI 

KNIGHT OF THE EAST. Chevalier cT Orient The ] 5th 
degree in the Ancient Scotch rite. This is a very interesting 
degree. It is founded upon the circumstance of the assistance 
rendered by Darius to the Jews, who had been liberated from 
their captivity at Babylon, and who had been prevented after the 
death of Cyrus, by their enemies, from completing their purpose 
of rebuilding the temple. The meetings are called "Councils." 
The hangings of the council chamber are water-coloured, inter- 
spersed with red, in allusion to certain events that occurred at 
the river Euphrates, on the return of the Israelites from cap- 
tivity. It is illuminated by seventy-two lights, in memory of 
the seventy-two years of captivity, and also for another reason. 

All the Knights are decorated with a green watered ribbon 
from the right shoulder to the left hip, a wooden bridge being 
painted on the front of it, with the letters Y and H upon it. It 
is also painted over with the heads and limbs of bodies newly 
slain. The apron is lined with red, and bordered with green, 
having three heaps of triangular chains painted on it, and on the 
flap a bloody head between two swords in saltire. The officers 
are : 1, Cyrus or Sovereign • 2, Nehemias or Grand Keeper of 
the Seals; 3, Sathrabuzanes or Grand General; 4, Mithridatea 
or Grand Treasurer; 5, Siclrus or Minister of State. The 
Knights of the East afterwards, in Palestine, assumed the name 
of Knights of the Red Cross, under which name a degree is now 
given, as preparatory to that of Knight Templar. 

Scripture and the traditions of the order furnish us with many 
interesting facts in relation to this degree. The Knights of the 
East are said to derive their origin from the captivity of the 
Israelites in Babylon. After seventy-two years of servitude, 
they were restored to liberty by Cyrus, king of Persia, through 
the intercession of Zerubbabel, a prince of the trile of Jiulah, 
and Nehemias, a holy man of a distinguished family. 

Cyrus then permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem, for the 
purpose of rebuilding the temple, and he caused all the holy ves- 



KNI 0^17 

sels and ornaments which had been carried away at its destruc- 
tion by Nebuzaraclan, to be restored to them. 

He entrusted the command of the returning captives to Ze- 
rubbabel, and issued an edict for their free passage from Syria to 
Jerusalem. Zerubbabel then assembled the Israelites, to the 
number of 42,860, exclusive of slaves and servants, and having 
armed those Masons who had escaped the fury of the enemy at 
the destruction of the old temple, amounting to 7000, he placed 
them at the head of the people to light such as should oppose 
their return to Judea. The march was prosperous as far as the 
banks of the Euphrates, where Zerubbabel first found armed 
troops to oppose their passage. A battle now ensued, and all the 
enemy, to a man, were either drowned in the river or cut to 
pieces at the passage of the bridge. 

After a march of four months, the Israelites arrived at Jeru- 
salem on the 22d of June. Seven days after they began to lay 
out the work of the new temple. The workmen were divided, 
as at the building of the old temple, into classes, over which a 
chief with two assistants presided; every degree of each class 
was paid according to its rank, and each class had its distinctive 
modes of recognition. 

The works had scarcely been begun, before the workmen were 
disturbed by the persecutions of the neighbouring Samaritans, 
who, influenced by envy, were determined to oppose the recon- 
struction of the edifice. ' But Zerubbabel ordered, as a measure 
of precaution, that the Masons should work with a sword in one 
hand and a trowel in the other, that they might be able at any 
moment to defend themselves from the attacks of their enemies. 

This second temple occupied forty-six years in its construction, 
having been begun in the reign of Cyrus and completed in that 
of Artaxerxes. It was consecrated in the same manner as Solo- 
mon had consecrated the first. From the Masons who constructed 
it, and who were created Knights of the East by Cyrus, the 
present order of knights claim their descent. 

The degree of Knights of the East constitutes the 6th degree 



248 • KNI 

of the French rite. It does not differ in essentials from the 
same degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scotch rite. 

KNIGHT OF THE EAST AND WEST. Chevalier cV On. 
ent et a" Occident. The 17th degree in the Ancient Scotch rite, 
called a Council This is a degree of chivalry, unconnected by 
its history with Freemasonry. The knights assert, that upon 
their return from the Holy Land, in the age of the Crusaders, 
their ancestors organized this order; and that, in the year 1118, 
the first knights, to the number of eleven, took their vows of 
secrecy, friendship and discretion, between the hands of Garinus, 
patriarch and prince of Jerusalem. The presiding officer is called 
Most Powerful; the Wardens and twenty-one knights, Worship- 
ful Ancients ; and the rest of the brethren, Worshipful Knights. 

The jewel is a heptagon of silver, at each angle a star of gold, 
and one of these letters B. D. W. P. H. C. S. ; in the centre is 
inscribed a lamb on a book with seven ^eals. On the reverse of 
the jewel are the same letters, but the device is a two-edged 
sword between the scales of a balance. 

The apron is white, lined with red, and inscribed with a two- 
edged sword. 

KNIGHT OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. This order 
was instituted by St. Helena, the mother of Constantino the 
Great, in 302, after she had visited Jerusalem, and, according to 
the traditions of the Roman Church, discovered the true cross. 
In 304, the order was confirmed by Pope Marcellinus. During 
the times of the Christian Kings of Jerusalem, the Knights of 
the Holy Sepulchre were eminent for their courage and fidelity. 
Upon the loss of the Holy Land, they took refuge in Perugia, 
and were afterwards incorporated with the Knights of Rhodes 
Curzon, in his " Visits to Monasteries in the Levant," states 
that the order is still conferred in Jerusalem, but only on Roman 
Catholics of noble birth, by the Reverendissimo or Superior of 
the Franciscans, and that the accolade, or blow of knighthood, 



KNI 249 

is bestowed with the sword of Godfrey de JBouiLon, which is pre- 
served, with his spurs, in the sacristy of the Church of the Holy 
Sepulchre. The degree was formerly given in Councils of the 
Trinity, next after the Knight of the Christian Mark and in 
New- York Encampments of Knights Templar. The presiding 
officer is called " Right Reverend Prelate." 

The council chamber is decorated with black ornaments; the 
altar is covered with black, and has three lights, a crucifix, and skull 
and cross bones. 

KNIGHT, OF K H. Grand Elected Knight of Kadosh 

Grand elu Chevalier Kadosch. The 29th degree in the Ancient 
Scotch rite. This degree is intimately connected with the ancient 
order of the Knights Templar, a history of whose destruction, by 
the united efforts of Philip, King of France, and Pope Clement V. 
forms a part of the instructions given to the candidate. The 
dress of the knights is black, as an emblem of mourning for the 
extinction of the Knights Templar, and the death of Jacques de 
Molay, their last Grand Master. They wear a red cross suspended 
by a black ribbon from the left shoulder to the right side. The 
presiding officer is styled Most Illustrious Grand Commander. 

KNIGHT OF THE LILIES OF THE VALLEY. This 
was a degree conferred by the Grand Orient of France as an ap- 
pendage to Templarism. The Knights Templar who received it 
were constituted Knights Commanders. 

KNIGHT OF MALTA. The Knights of St. John of Je- 
rusalem, or Hospitallers of St. John, afterwards called Knights 
of Rhodes, and finally Knights of Malta, were founded about the 
commencement of the Crusades, as a military and religious order. 
[n 10-18, some pious merchants from Amalfi, in the kingdom of 
Naples, built a church and monastery at Jerusalem, which thev 
dedicated to St. John the Almoner. The monks were hence 
called Brothers of St. John, or Hospitallers, and it was their duty 



250 KNI 

to assist those, sick and needy pilgrims whom a spirit of piety had 
led to the Holy Land. They assumed the black habit of the 
hermits of St. Augustine, distinguished only by a white cross of 
eight points on the left breast. They rapidly increased in num- 
bers and in wealth, and at the beginning of the twelfth century, 
were organized as a military order by Raymond du Puy, who 
added to their original vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty, the 
obligation of defending the church against infidels. Raymond 
then devided them into three classes : Knights, who alone bore 
arms ; Chaplains, who were regular ecclesiastics ; and Servitors, 
who attended to the sick. After long and bloody contests with 
the Turks and Saracens, they were finally driven from Palestine 
in the year 1191. Upon this, they attacked and conquered Cy- 
prus, which, however, they lost after eighteen years occupation ; 
they then established themselves at the Island of Rhodes, under 
the Grand Mastership of Fulk de Villaret, and assumed the title 
of Knights of Rhodes. On the 15th of December, 1442, after a 
tranquil occupation of this island for more than two hundred 
years, they were finally ejected from all their possessions by the 
sultan, Soliman the Second. After this disaster, they successively 
retired to Castro, Messina, and Rome, until the Emperor Charles 
V., in 1530, bestowed upon them the Island of Malta, upon the 
condition of their defending it from the depredations of the Turks, 
and the corsairs of Barbary, and of restoring it to Naples, should 
they ever succeed in recovering Rhodes. They now took the name 
of Knights of Malta, by which title they have ever since been 
designated. Here the organization of the order was as follows : 
The chief of the order was called " Grand Master of the Holy 
Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, and Guardian of the army of 
Jesus Christ." He was elected for life, and resided at the city 
of Valette. He was addressed by foreign powers with the title 
of"altezza eminentissima," and enjoyed an annual revenue of 
about one million of guilders.* The knights were divided into 

* The Grand Master's election was regulated in the following manner, wh'.-n 
Clark wrote his "History of Knighthood." The several seminaries named two 



KNI 251 

eight languages, according to their respective nations. The lan- 
guages were those of Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Arragon, 
Germany, Castile, and England. Upon the extinction of the lan- 
guage of England, that of Anglo-Bavaria was substituted. The 
Grand Officers were also eight in number, and consisted of the 
chiefs of the different languages, as follows : 

1. The chief of the language of Provence was Grand Commander. 

2. " " Auvergne " Marshal. 

3. " " France " Hospitaller. 

4. " " Italy " Grand Admiral. 

5 " " Arragon " Grand Conservator. 

6. " « Germany « Grand Bailiff. 

7. " " Castile " Grand Chancellor. 

8. " " England " Turcopolier or Captain 

[General of the Cavalry. 

The knights, in time of war, wore over their usual garments a 
scarlet surcoat,' embellished before and behind with a broad white 
cross of eight points. In times of peace, the dress of ceremony 
was a long black mantle, upon which the same cross of white linen 
was sowed. 

In 1565, the Island of Malta was beleagured by Soliman the 
Second, on which occasion the knights suffered immense loss, from 
which they never entirely recovered. Of the eight languages, the 
English became extinct in the sixteenth century, those of France, 
Auvergne, and Provence, perished in the anarchy of the French 
revolution, Castile and Arragon were separated at the peace of 
Amiens, and the remaining two have been since abolished. The 
order, therefore, as respects its ancient constitution, has now ceased 
to exist. 

In 1798, the knights chose Paul I., Emperor of Russia, as 
their Grand Master, who took them under his protection. Upon 
his death they elected Prince Carracciolo. Upon the reduction 

knights each, allowing also two for the English ; those sixteen, from among 
themselves chose eight: those eight chose a knight, a priest, and a serving 
brother; and they three, out of the sixteen great crosses, elected the Grand 

Muster. 



252 KNI 

of the Island of Malta by the English in 1800, the clnef scat 
of the order was transferred to Catanea in Sicily, whence in 182 (> 
it was removed by the authority of the Pope to Ferrara. The 
last public reception of the order took place at Sonneburg in 1800, 
when Leopold, the present King of Belgium, and Prince Ernest 
of Hesse Philippsthal Barchfeld, with several other knights, were 
created. 

In 1841, Ferdinand I., Emperor of Austria, issued a decree 
restoring the order in Italy, and endowing it with a moderate re- 
venue.* But the wealth, the power, and the magnificence of the 
order have passed away with the age and the spirit of chivalry 
which gave it birth. 

Ancient Ceremonies of Reception. — They were simple and im- 
pressive. " The novice was made to understand that he was 
'about to put off the old man, and to be regenerated;' and having 
received absolution, was required to present himself in a secular 
habit, without a girdle, in order to appear perfectly free on enter- 
ing into so sacred an engagement, and with a burning taper in his 
hand, representing charity. He then received the holy commu- 
nion, and afterwards presented himself 'most respectfully before 
the person who was to perforin the ceremony, and requested to be 
received into the company of brothers and into the holy order of 
the Hospital of Jerusalem.' The rules of the order, the obligations 
he was about to take upon himself, and the duties that would bo 
required of him, being explained, an open Missal was then pre- 
sented to him, on which he placed both of his hands, and made his 
profession in the following terms : 

" ' I, N., do vow and promise to Almighty God, to the eternal 
Virgin Mary, mother of God, and to St. John the Baptist, to ren- 
der henceforward, by the grace of God, perfect obedience to the 
superior placed over me by the choice of the order, to live without 
personal property, and to preserve 1113- chastity.' 

" Having taken his hands from the book, the brother who re- 



* See Moore's Magazine for a copy of this decree. 



KNI 253 

ceived him said as follows : 'We acknowledge you the servant of 
the poor and sick, and as having consecrated yourself to the ser- 
vice of the Church/ To which he answered : ' I acknowledge 
myself as such/ He then kissed the Missal and returned it to 
the brother who received him, in token of perfect obedience. He 
was then in7ested with the mantle of the order, in such a manner 
as that the cross fell on his left breast. A variety of other minor 
ceremonies followed, and the whole was concluded with a series 
of appropriate and solemn prayers."* 

As a masonic grade, the degree of Knight of Malta is in this 
country communicated in a Commandery of Knights Templar, 
as an appendant order thereto. 

KNIGHT OF THE MEDITERRANEAN PASS. This 
is an honorary degree, conferred only on Knights Templar as 
Knights of Malta. It is conferred by Inspectors of the 33d degree 
of the Ancient and Accepted rite, though, I suppose, it may also 
be conferred by Encampments of Knights Templar that are in 
possession of it, upon their members. 

The degree is said to have been founded by the Knights of 
Malta, about the year 1367. In an excursion of a party of Mal- 
tese knights, they were attacked while crossing the river Offanto, j" 
in Italy, by a very superior force. Notwithstanding the disparity 
of numbers, the knights succeeded in obtaining a signal victory, 
and routed the Turks, with an immense loss, the river beiug 
literally stained with their blood. 

As a reward of their valour, the knights who had thus distin- 
guished themselves were affranchised on all the Mediterranean 
shores; that is to say, they received permission to pass and repass, 
wherever and whenever it seemed to them good, and this was the 



* Moore's Magazine, vol. ii, p. 133-4. 

| This is the ancient Aufidius, memorable for the battle of Cannes f Might on 
it? banks, between Hannibal and the Romans, in which the latter were ibfeated 
with the loss of 45,000 men. 

22 



254 KNI 



origin of the degree which was instituted in commemoration of 
these circumstances. Such is the legend of the knigtts of this 
degree. It is by no means to be confounded with the side degree 
of the " Mediterranean Pass," conferred on Royal Arch Masons, 
which resembles it only in the name. 

KNIGHT OF THE NINTH ARCH. Royal Arche. The 
13th degree in the Ancient Scotch rite, sometimes called the 
" Ancient Royal Arch of Solomon." This is, without question, 
the most interesting and impressive of what are called the inef- 
fable degrees. The historical portitns of this degree are copious, 
and afford us much information in relation to Enoch, and the 
mode in which, notwithstanding the destructive influence of the 
deluge and the lapse of ages, he was enabled to preserve important 
secrets eventually to be communicated to the first possessors of 
this degree. Its officers are a Most Potent Grand Master, re- 
presenting Solomon K. of I., a Grand Warden, representing 
Hiram K. of T., a Grand Inspector, Grand Treasurer, and Grand 
Secretary. 

The apron of this degree is lined with yellow, and has on it a 
triangle. 

The jewel is a medal of gold. On one side is a representation 
of two people letting down a third through a square hole into 
arches, and round the edge these letters : " R. S. S. G. I. E. S. 
T. P. A. T. S. R. E , A. M. 2995." They are the initials of the 

following sentence : " Regnante Sapientissimo Salamone, G 

J et S Invenerunt Pretiosissimum Artificum Thesaurum, 

Subter Ruinas Enoch, Anno 3Iundi 2995." 

KNIGHT OF THE PELICAN. One of the titles by which 
the Princes of Ptose Croix are designated. 

KNIGHT OF THE RED CROSS. This is strictly a masonic 
order of knighthood, and its history is intimately connected with 
the circumstances related in the Royal Arch degree. It has no 



KNI 2"5 

analogy to the degrees of chivalry, dating its existence long be- 
fore the Crusades, or even the Christian era, as far back, indeed, 
as the reign of Darius, by whom it is said to have been founded. 
It is, however, always conferred in a Commandery of Knights 
Templar, and is given preparatory to communicating that degree, 
though there is no connection whatsoever between the two. After 
the death of Cyrus, the Jews, who had been released by him from 
their captivity, and permitted to return to Jerusalem, for the pur- 
pose of re-building the temple, found themselves obstructed in 
the undertaking by the neighbouring nations, and especially by the 
Samaritans. Hereupon, they sent an embassy, at the head of 
which was their prince Zerubbabel, to Darius the successor of 
Cyrus, to crave his interposition and protection. Zerubbabel, 
awaiting a favourable opportunity, succeeded not only in obtaining 
his request, but also in renewing the friendship which formerly 
existed between the king and himself. In commemoration of 
these events, Darius is said to have instituted a new order, and 
called it the Knights of the East. They afterwards assumed their 
present name from the red cross borne in their banners. The 
historical circumstances connected with this degree will be found 
in Josephus, and in the 3d and 4th chapters of the 1st book of Es- 
dras. It is asserted that this order has been long known in 
Europe, under different names, though its introduction into this 
country is of comparatively recent date. A council of Knights of 
the Red Cross is composed of the following officers : a Sovereign 
Master, Chancellor, Master of the Palace, Prelate, Master of Des- 
patches, Master of Calvary, Master of Infantry, Standard-Bearer, 
Sword-Bearer, Warder, and Sentinel. 

KNIGHT OF THE ROYAL AXE, OR PRINCE OF 
LIBANUS. Royal-Eache, ou Prince du Liban. The 22d de- 
gree in the Ancient Scotch rite. It was instituted to record 
three memorable services rendered to masonry by the " mighty 
cedars of Lebanon," and its history furnishes some interesting 

information on the subject of the Sidonian architects. 

22 



25G KNI 

We learn from this degree that the Sidonians were employed 
in cutting cedars, on Mount Libanus or Lebanon, for tire con- 
struction of Noah's ark. Their descendants subsequently cut 
cedars from the same place for the ark of the covenant; and the 
descendants of these were again employed in the same offices, and 
in the same place, in obtaining materials for building Solomon's 
temple. Lastly, Zerubbabel employed them in cutting the cedars 
of Lebanon for the use of the second temple. This celebrated 
nation formed colleges on Mount Libanus, and in their labours al- 
ways adored the Great Architect of the Universe. I have no 
doubt that this last sentence refers to the Druses, that secret sect 
of Theists, who still reside upon Mount Libanus, and in the adjacent 
parts of Syria and Palestine, and whose mysterious ceremonies 
have attracted so much of the curiosity of Eastern travellers. 

Thory* says that Pierre Riel, Marquis of Beurnonville, who 
died in Paris in 1821, having gone to the island of Bourbon, was 
there elected Grand Master of all the lodges of India, in 1778, 
and then instituted this degree. 

The apron of the Knights of the Royal Axe is white, lined 
and bordered with purple. On it is painted a round table, on 
which are laid several architectural plans. On the flap is a 
three-headed serpent. The jewel is a golden axe, having on the 
handle and blade the initials of several personages illustrious in 
the history of masonry 

KNIGHT OF THE ROSY CROSS. See Heredom, Royal 

Order of. 

KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM. Accord- 
ing to a tradition of the Rose Croix, 27,000 of the descendants 
of the Masons who, at the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, 
had fled to Scotland, being desirous of uniting in the war of the 
Crusades, obtained permission of the Scotch monarch, and, on 
their arrival in Palestine, performed so many deeds of valour aa 

* Chnonologie, tome i., p. 31] . 



KNI 257 

to attract the admiration of the Knights of St. John of Jerusa- 
lem, wfto, as a token of their esteem, requested to be initiated 
into the masonic order, whence arose the connection of that body 
with the Freemasons. 

KNIGHT OF THE SUN. Chevalier du Solid. The 28th 
degree of the Ancient Scotch rite, sometimes called by other 
names, as Prince of the Sun, Prince Adept, and Key of Ma- 
sonry, or Chaos Disentangled. This is a philosophical degree. 
Its ceremonies and lecture are employed in giving a history of 
all the preceding degrees, and in explaining the emblems of ma- 
sonry. Its great object is the inculcation of Truth. The prin- 
cipal officers are styled Thrice Perfect Father Adam and Brother 
Truth ; the other officers are named after the seven chief angels, 
and the brethren are called Sylphs. The jewel is a gold medal, 
with a sun on one side surrounded by rays, and on the reverse a 
globe. There is but one light in the lodge, which shines from 
behind a globe of water. 

Ragon,* speaking of this degree, says that it is not, like many 
of the high degrees, a modern invention, but is of the highest 
antiquity, and was, in fact, the last degree of initiation, teaching, 
as it did, the doctrines of natural religion, which formed an es- 
sential part of the ancient mysteries. 

KNIGHT OF THE THREE KINGS. A side degree 
sometimes given hy Lecturers. Its history connects it with the 
dedication of the -first temple, the conferrer of the degree repre- 
senting King Solomon. Its moral tendency appears to be the 
inculcation of reconciliation of grievances among Masons by 
friendly conference. It may be conferred by any Master Mason 
on another. 

KNIGHT TEMPLAR. In the early ages of the Christian 
cburch, a holy veneration for the scenes which had been conse- 

* Cours Philosophique, p. 361. 



e. r .s KNI 

crated by the sufferings and death of the founder of our religion, 
led. thousands of pious pilgrims to visit Jerusalem, for the pur- 
pose of effering up their devotions at the sepulchre of the Lord. 
To such a height did this religious enthusiasm arrive, that, in 
10G4, not less than seven thousand pilgrims assembled from all 
parts of Europe around the tomb of Christ. At a time when 
the facilities of intercourse which now exist were unknown, the 
journey must have always been attended with difficulties and 
dangers, to which the youthful, the aged, and the infirm, must 
often have been sacrificed. But when Palestine was conquered 
by the Arabs, and the land of pilgrimage became infested by 
hordes of barbarous fanatics, inspired with the most intense ha- 
tred towards Christianity, these difficulties and dangers were 
eminently increased. The tale of the sufferings inflicted on the 
pilgrims by the Mussulman possessors of Jerusalem excited in 
Europe an enthusiastic indignation, which led to the institution 
of the Crusades, wars undertaken solely for the purpose of recov- 
ering the Holy Land from the followers of Mahomet. In 1099, 
the city of Jerusalem was captured by the Crusaders, the conse- 
quence of which was an increase in the zeal of pilgrimage, which 
had been gathering intensity during its long suppression by the 
barbarities of the Turcomans. But, although the infidels had 
been driven out of Jerusalem, they had not been expelled from 
Palestine, but they still continued to infest the lofty mountains 
bordering on the sea-coast, from whose inaccessible strongholds 
they were wont to make incursions into the roads surrounding 
the Holy City, and pillage every unguarded traveller. 

To protect the pious pilgrims thus exposed to plunder and death, 
nine noble knights, who had previously distinguished themselves 
at the siege of Jerusalem, united in a brotherhood, and bound 
themselves by a solemn compact to aid one another in clearing the 
highways of infidels and robbers, and in protecting the pilgrim 
through the passes and defiles of the mountains to the Holy City.* 

* The Knight Templars, by C. G. Addison, Esq., of the Inner Temple V 
6, London, 1842. 



KNI 259 

These knights called themselves the Poor Fellow Soldiers of 
Jesus Christ. Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, gave them, in 1118, 
for a dwelling, a part of the church which had been built by the 
Emperor Justinian within the site on which the temple of Solo- 
mon had been erected on Mount Moriah, and adjoining to the 
temple which had been built by the Caliph Omar. Thenceforth 
they assumed the title of " Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and 
of the temple of Solomon."* The views of the order now be- 
came more extensive, and they added to their profession of pro- 
tecting poor pilgrims, that of defending the kingdom of Jerusa- 
lem, and the whole Eastern church, from the attacks of infidels. 
Hugh de Payens was chosen by the knights their leader, under 
the title of the " Master of the Temple/' Their name and re- 
putation spread rapidly through Europe, and mauy of the nobles 
of the West, who had visited Palestine as pilgrims, aspired to 
become members of the order. In 1128, they received a rule or 
system of regulations from the pope, which had been drawn ex- 
pressly for them by St. Bernard. In the same year Hugh de 
Payens visited various parts of Europe, and received from dif- 
ferent princes and nobles many liberal donations of land and 
money. In England, especially, where the amount granted was 
large, he established a branch of the order, placing a Knight 
Templar at its head, as his procurator and vicegerent, with the 
title of Prior of the Temple. As the English domains became 
enlarged, this title was successively changed to that of Grand 
Prior, and then to that of Master of the Temple in England. 
At this time, the rule of St. Bernard, which had been adopted 
for their government, prescribed to them a dress, consisting of a 
white mantle, "that those," as the rule expressed it, "who 
have cast behind them a dark life, may know that they are to 
commend themselves to their creator by a pure and white life.""}" 
To this, Pope Eugenius some years afterwards added a red cross, 
as a symbol of martyrdom. Their banner was half black, half 

* Pauperes Coniinilitiones Christi et Templi Salomonis. 
f Regula. cap xx. 



260 KNI 

white, called Beauseant, " that is to say, in the Gall c tongue, 
Bien -scant, (ivdi-becoming ,) because they are fair and favourable 
to the friends of Christ, but black and terrible to his enemies."* 

The knights, engaged in continual wars with the infidels, con- 
tinued to increase their reputation, and enlarge their possessions, 
which are esteemed by Dugdale to have produced, in 1185, the 
enormous annual sum of six millions sterling. But in the be- 
ginning of the 14th century, the avarice of Philip le Bel, and 
the weakness and perfidy of Clement V., conspired to give a 
blow to their order, from which it never recovered. Before ad- 
verting to that catastrophe, I shall occupy a few moments in ex- 
amining the organization of the order during the most prospe- 
rous period of its existence. 

The order of the Temple, in the 12th century, was divided 
into three classes : knights, priests, and serving brethren. Every 
candidate for admission into the first class must have received 
the honour of knighthood in due form, and according to the laws 
of chivalry, and consequently the Knights Templar were all men 
of nuble birth. The second class, or the priests, were not origi- 
nally a part of the order, but by the bull of Pope Alexander, 
known as the bull omne datum optimum, it was ordained that 
they might be admitted, to enable the knights more commodi- 
ously to hear divine service, and to receive the sacramants. 
Serving brothers, like the priests, were not a part of the primi- 
tive institution. They owed their existence to the increasing 
prosperity and luxury of the order. 

Over this society, thus constituted, was placed a presiding 
officer, with the title of Grand Master. His power, though 
great, was limited. He was, in war, the commander-in-chief of 
all the forces of the Temple. In his hands was placed the 
whole patronage of the order, and as the vicegerent of the pope, 
he was the spiritual head and bishop of all the clergy belonging 
to the society. He was, however, much controlled and guided 

♦ James de Vitry. Hist. Hierosol. 



KNI 261 

by the chapter, without whose consent he was never permitted to 
draw out or expend the money of the order. 

The Grand Master resided originally at Jerusalem ; afterwards, 
when that city was lost, at Acre, and finally at Cyprus. His 
duty always required him to be in the Holy Land; he conse- 
quently never resided in Europe. He was elected for life from 
among the knights in the following manner. On the death of 
the Grand Master, a Grand Prior was chosen to administer the 
affairs of the order until a successor could be elected. When 
the day which had been appointed for the election arrived, the 
chapter usually assembled at the chief seat of the order; three 
or more of the most esteemed knights were then proposed, the 
Grand Prior collected the votes, and he who had received the 
greatest number was nominated to be the electing Prior. An 
Assistant was then associated with him in the person of another 
knight. These two remained all night in the chapel engaged in 
prayer. In the morning, they chose two others, and these four, 
two more, and so on until the number of twelve (that of the 
apostles) had been selected. The twelve then selected a chap- 
lain. The thirteen then proceeded to vote for a Grand Master, 
who was elected by a majority of the votes. When the election 
was completed, it was announced to the assembled brethren, and 
when all had promised obedience, the Prior, if the person was 
present, said to him, " In the name of God the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Ghost, we have chosen, and do choose thee, bro- 
ther N., to be our Master." Then, turning to the brethren, he 
said, " Beloved sirs and brethren, give thanks unto God, behold 
here our Master."* 

The remaining officers were a Marshal, who was charged with 
the execution of the military arrangements on the field of battle. 
The Prior of Jerusalem, called the Grand Preceptor of the 
Temple, was the Treasurer of the order, and had charge of all 
the receipts and expenditures. The Draper had the care of the 
clothing department, and distributed the garments to all the 

* See N. Americ. Quart. Mag. vol. vii. p. 328. 



202 KNI 

brethren. The Standard-Bearer bore the glorious Beauseant to 
the field. The Turcopilar was the commander of a body of ligh- 
horse called Turcopoles, who were employed as skirmisheis and 
light cavalry. And lastly, to the Guardian of the Chapel was 
entrusted the care of the portable chapel, which was always car- 
ried by the Templars into the field.* 

Each province of the order had a Grand Prior, who was in it 
the representative of the Grand Master; and each house was 
governed by a Prior or Preceptor, who commanded its knights in 
time of war, and presided over its chapter in peace. 

The mode of reception into the order is described to have been 
exceedingly solemn. A novitiate was enjoined by the canons; 
though practically, it was in general dispensed with. The can- 
didate was received in a chapter assembled in the chapel of the 
order, all strangers being rigorously excluded. The Preceptor 
opened the business with an address to those present, demanding 
if they knew of any just cause or impediment why the candi- 
date should not be admitted. If no objection was made, the 
candidate was conducted into an adjacent chamber, where two or 
three of the knights, placing before his view the rigour and aus- 
terities of the order, demanded if he still persisted in entering 
it. If he persisted, he was asked if he was married or betrothed, 
had made a vow in any other order, if he owed more than he 
could pay, if he was of sound body, without any secret infirmity, 
and free ? If his answers proved satisfactory, they left him and 
returned to the chapter, and the Preceptor again asked, if any 
one had any thing to say against his being received. If all were 
silent, he asked if they were willing to receive him. On their 
assenting, the candidate was led in by the knights who had 
questioned him, and who now instructed him in the mode of 
asking admission. He advanced, and kneeling before the Pre- 
ceptor with folded hands, said, " Sir, I am come before God, 
and before you and the brethren ; and I pray and beseech you, 

* This list is given on the authority of Addison. Other writers varj 
slightly in the names and number of thes« officers. 



KNI 263 

for the sake of God, and our sweet lady, to receive me into your 
society and the good works of the order, as one who, all his life 
long, will be the servant and slave of the order." The Precep- 
tor then inquired of him if he had well considered all the 
trials and difficulties which awaited him in the order, adjured 
him on the Holy Evangelists to speak the truth, and then put to 
him the questions which had already been asked of him in the 
preparation room, further inquiring if he was a knight, and the 
son of a knight and gentlewoman, and if he was a priest. He 
then asked him the following questions : " Do you promise to 
God aDd Mary, and our dear lady, obedience, as long as you live, 
to the Master of the Temple, and the Prior who shall be set over 
you; do you promise chastity of the body; do you further pro- 
mise a strict compliance with the laudable customs and usages of 
the order now in force, and such as the Master and knights may 
hereafter add ; will you fight for and defend, with all }'our 
might, the holy land of Jerusalem, and never quit the order but 
with the consent of the Master and Chapter; and lastly, do you 
agree that you never will see a Christian unjustly deprived of his 
inheritance, nor be aiding in such a deed?" The answers to all 
these questions being in the affirmative, the Preceptor then said : 
" In the name of God, and of Mary, our dear lady, and in the 
name of St. Peter of Rome, and of our Father the Pope, and in 
the name of all the brethren of the TemjDle, we receive you to 
all the good works of the order, which have been performed from 
the beginning, and will be performed to the end, you, your 
father, your mother, and all those of your family whom you let 
participate therein. So you, in like manner, receive us to all the 
good works which you have performed and will perform. We 
assure you of bread and water, the poor clothing of the order, 
and labor and toil enow." The Preceptor then took the white 
mantle, with its ruddy cross, placed it about his neck and bound 
it fast. The Chaplain repeated the 133d Psalm : Behold how 
good, and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in 
unity;" and the prayer of the Holy Spirit, " Deus qui corda 



2G4 KNI 

Odelium; each brother said a Pater, and the Preceptor and 
Chaplain kissed the candidate. He then placed himself at the 
feet of the Preceptor, who exhorted him to peace and charity, to 
chastity, obedience ; humility, and piety, and so the ceremony 
was ended.* 

But to resume the history of the order. From the time of 
Hugh de Payens, to that of Jacques de Molay, the Templars 
continued to be governed by a succession of the noblest and 
bravest knights of which the chivalry of Christendom could 
boast. They continued to increase in power, in fame and in 
wealth, and, what is unfortunately too often the concomitants of 
these qualities, in luxury and pride. In the beginning of the 
14th century, the throne of France was filled by Philip the Fair, 
an ambitious, a vindictive, and an avaricious prince. In his 
celebrated controversy with Pope Boniface, the Templars had, as 
was usual with them, sided with the Pontiff and opposed the 
King; this act excited his hatred : the order was enormously 
wealthy; this aroused his avarice: their power interfered with 
his designs of political aggrandizement; and this alarmed his 
ambition. He, therefore, secretly concerted with Pope Clement 
V. apian for their destruction, and the appropriation of their 
revenues. Clement, by his direction, wrote in June, 1306, to 
De Molay, the Grand Master, who was then at Cyprus, inviting 
him to come and consult with him on some matters of great im- 
portance to the order. De Molay obeyed the summons, and ar- 
rived in the beginning of 1307 at Paris, with sixty knights and 
a large amount of treasure. He was immediately imprisoned, 
and, on the 13th of October following, every knight in France 
was, in consequence of the secret orders of the King, arrested 
on the pretended charge of idolatry, and other enormous crimes, 
of which a renegade and expelled Prior of the order was said to 
have confessed that the knights were guilt) 7 in their secret chap- 
ters. On the 12th of May, 1310, fifty-four of the knights were, 
after a mock trial, publicly burnt, and on the 18th of March. 

* N. Am. Quart. Mag. ut tupra. 



KNI 265 

1314, De Molay, the Grand Master, and the three principal dig- 
nitaries of the order, suffered the same fate. They died faith- 
fully asserting their innocence of all the crimes imputed to them. 
The order was now, by the energy of the King of France, as- 
sisted by the spiritual authority of the Pope, suppressed 
throughout Europe. But it was not annihilated. De Molay, in 
anticipation of his fate, had appointed John Mark Larmienus as 
his successor in office, and from that time to the present there 
has been a regular and uninterrupted succession of Grand 
Masters. Of the names of these Grand Masters, and the date 
of their election, I annex a list for the gratification of the 
curious.* 

1. Hugh de Payens, 1118. 

2. Eobert of Burgundy, 1139. 

3. Everard de Barri, 1147. 

4. Bernard de Trenellape, 1151. 

5. Bertrand de Blanchefort, 1154. 

6. Andrew de Montbar 1165. 

7. Philip of Naplus, 1169. 

8. Odo de St. Amand, 1171. 

9. Arnold de Troye, 1180. 

10. John Terricus, 1185. 

11. Ger-ard Bidefort, 1187. 

12. Robert Sablaeus, 1191. 

13. Gilbert Gralius, 1196. 

14. Philip de Plessis, 1201. 

15. William de Carnota, 1217. 

16. Peter de Montagu, 1218. 

17. Armaud de Petragrossa, 1229. 

18. Herman de Petragrorius, 1237. 

19. William de Rupefort, 1244. 

* It may be as well to observe that this is the list given by the order of tli<3 
Temple at Paris, who claim to be the lineal descendants of the ancient ord ur. 
Other Templars, who do not admit the legality of the Grand Mastership of 
I.-armenins, give different catalogues of Grand Masters. 



200 KNI 

20. William de Sonnac, 1247. 

21. Keginald Vichierius, 1250. 

22. Thomas Beraud, 1257. 

23. William de Beaujeau, 1274. 

24. Theobald Gaudinius, 1291. 

25. Jacques de Molay, 1298. 

26. John Mark Larmienus. 1314. 

27. Thomas Theobald Alexandrinus, 1324. 

28. Arnold de Braque, 1340. 

29. John de Clareniont, 1349. 

30. Bertrand du Guesclin, 1357. 

31. John Arniiniacus, 1381. 

32. Bernard Arminiacus, 1392. 

33. John Arminiacus, 1419. 

34. John de Croy, 1451. 

35. Bernard Imbault, 1472. 

36. Robert Senoncourt, 1478. 

37. Galeatius de Salazar, 1497. 

38. Philip Chabot, 1516. 

39. Gaspard de Jaltiaco Tavanensis, 1544. 

40. Henry de Montmorency, 1574. 

41. Charles de Valois, 1615. 

42. James Ruxellius de Granceio, 1651. 

43. DucdeDuras, 1681. 

44. Philip Duke of Orleans, 1705. 

45. Due de Maine, 1724. 
46 Louis Henry Bourbon, 1737. 

47. Louis Francis Bourbon, 1741. 

48. Due de Cosse Brissac, 1776. 

49. Claude M. R. Chevillon, 1792. 
50 Bernard R. F. Palaprat, 1804. 
51. Sir Sidney Smith, 1838. 

Notwithstanding, therefore, the efforts of the King and the Pope, 
the order of Templars was not entirely extinguished. In France 
it still exists, and ranks among its members some of the most 



KNI 267 

Influential noblemen of the kingdom In Portugal, the name 
of the order has been changed to that of the " Knights of Christ," 
and its Cross is frequently conferred by the government as the 
reward of distinguished merit. In England, the Encampment of 
Baldwin, which was established at Bristol by the Templars who 
returned with Richard I. from Palestine, still continues to hold 
its regular meetings, and is believed to have preserved the ancient 
costume and ceremonies of the order. This encampment, with 
another at Bath, and a third at York, constituted the three ori- 
ginal encampments of England. From these have emanated the 
existing encampments in the British Islands and in the United 
States, so that the order, as it now exists in Britain and America, 
is a lineal descendant of the ancient order. 

The connection between the Knights Templar and the Free- 
masons has been repeatedly asserted by the enemies of both insti- 
tutions, and as often admitted by their friends. Lawrie, on this 
subject, holds the following language : u We know that the Knight 
Templars not only possessed the mysteries, but performed the 
ceremonies, and inculcated the duties of Freemasons '"* and he 
attributes the dissolution of the order to the discovery of their 
being Freemasons, and their assembling in secret to practise the 
rites of the order. He further endeavours to explain the manner 
in which they became the depository of the masonic mysteries 
by tracing their initiation to the Druses, a Syriac fraternity, which, 
at the time of the Crusades, and long after, existed on Mount 
Libanus.f 

Costume — At the conclusion of this article, a few remarks on 
the costume of the order may be acceptable. The present black 
dress of the Templars is derived from the Knights of Malta, to 
whom, with the Teutonic Knights, their estates were assigned by 
Pope Clement on the dissolution of the order, and with whom 
many of the knights united themselves. But originally, as we 



* Hist, of Freemasonry, p. 58. 
f Hist, of Freemasonry, p. 88. 



268 KNI 

have already observed, their costume was white. In the Statutes 
of the order, as established in Scotland, which were revised in 
1843, the ancient costume was exactly adopted. According to 
these regulations the dress of the Knights Templar is as follows : 

A white woollen mantle to reach the knee in front, and taper 
away to the ankle behind, fastened with white cord and tassel, 
and with a red cross patSe on the left shoulder; white woollen 
tunic, reaching to about three or four inches above the knee, with 
the cross upon the left breast; white stock with falling white 
shirt collar ; tight white pantaloons ; buff boots, with buff top.^ 
turned over five inches broad, no tassels; spurs gilt, with red 
leathers; Sash of white silk, half a yard in breadth, tied in a 
knot in front; the ends edged with a white silk fringe hanging 
down, and a small red cross near the extremities ; white woollen 
cap with red leather band, or, if he has obtained a diploma 
from the Grand Master, a red velvet cap ; no feather ; cross-hilted 
sword with brass guard, and white ivory hilt ; scabbard of red 
morocco ; belt of red leather, with gilt buckle ; buff gauntlets, 
with a red cross on the wrist ; badge, and enamelled black cross, 
with white orle, and a small red cross enamelled thereon, suspend- 
ed from the neck by a red ribbon with white edges, about two 
inches broad, passing through the ring of the badge. 

In America, until 1862, the Templar costume was as follows: 
The suit was black, with black gloves. A black velvet sash, 
trimmed with silver lace, crossed the body from the left shoulder 
to the right hip, having at its end a cross-hilted dagger, a black 
rose on the left shoulder, and a Maltese cross at the end. Where 
the sash crossed the left breast, was a nine-pointed star in silver, 
with a cross and serpent of gold in the centre, within a circle, 
around which were the words, " in hoe signo vinces" The apron 
was of black velvet, in a triangular form, and edged with silver 
lace. On its flap was placed a triangle of silver, perforated with 
twelve holes, with a cross and serpent in the centre ; on the cen- 
tre of the apron was a skull and cross-bones, between three stars 
of seven points, having a red cross in the centre of each. Tne 



LAB— LAN 2G9 

belt was black, to which was attached a cross-hilted sword. The 
caps varied in form and decoration in different encampments. 
But in 1862 the Grand Encampment of the United States directed 
the dress to consist of a black frock coat and pantaloons, with 
white scarf and sword belt, and white gauntlets. The apron, 
very injudiciously, as I think, was discarded. 



LABOUR. From the time of opening to that of closing, a lodge 
is said to be at labour. This is but one of the numerous instances 
in which the terms of operative masonry are symbolically applied 
to speculative; for, as our operative ancestors, when congregated 
in lodge, were engaged in the building of material edifices, so Free 
and Accepted Masons are supposed to be employed in the erection 
of a superstructure of virtue and morality, upon the foundation 
of the masonic principles which they were taught at their admis- 
sion into the order. Extending the allusion, the lodge is said "tc 
be called from labour to refreshment/' whenever, in the course of 
the meeting, it adjourns for a definite period, or takes a recess of 
a few minutes. During this time, the Junior Warden presides 
over the craft. 

LADDER. See Jacob's Ladder. 

LANDMARKS. In ancient times, it was the custom to mark 
the boundaries of lands by means of stone pillars, the removal of 
which, by malicious persons, would be the occasion of much con- 
fusion, men having no other guide than these pillars by which to 
distinguish the limits of their property. To remove them, there- 
fore, was considered a heinous crime. "Thou shalt not," says the 
Jewish law, " remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they of 

23* 



270 LAN— LAP 

old time have set in thine inheritance. ''* Htnce those peculiar 
marks of distinction by which we are separated from the profane 
world, and by which we are enabled to designate our inheritance 
as the "sons of light/' are called the landmarks of the order. 
The universal language and the universal laws'f of masonry are 
landmarks, but not so are the local ceremonies, laws, and usages, 
which var) in different countries. To attempt to alter or remove 
these sacred landmarks, by which we examine and prove a bro- 
ther's claims to share in our privileges, is one of the most heinous 
offences that a Mason can commit. 

There are, however, certain forms and regulations, which, al- 
though not constituting landmarks, are nevertheless so protected 
by the venerable claim of antiquity, that they should be guarded 
by every good Mason with religious care from alteration. It 
is not in the power of any body of men to make innovations in 
masonry. 

LANGUAGE, UNIVERSAL. Freemasons boast, with truth, 
that they possess an universal language, which men of all lan- 
guages can understand. " An universal language," says Mr. 
Locke,^ " has been much desired by the learned of many ages. 
It is a thing rather to be wished than hoped for. But it seems 
the Masons pretend to have such a thing among them." AVe 
who possess that language, can estimate its value, for we know 
that its eloquent tones have often won sympathy from the most 
unfeeling, and converted the indifferent stranger into the faithful 
brother. 

LAPICIDA. A Freemason. See Latomus. 



* Deuteronomy xix. 14. 

f It has been supposed, by some authorities, that all laws which were in ex- 
istence in 1717, at the re-organization of the Grand Lodge in the south of Eng- 
land, are to be considered as landmarks. 

X That is, if Lcland's Manuscript be authentic. 



LAT— LEB 271 

LATIN LODGE. In the year 1784, Brown, the celebrated 
physician, organized the Roman Eagle lodge at Edinburgh, the 
whole work of which was conducted in the Latin language. 

LATOMUS. A Latin term derived from the Greek Zaro/xoc, 
a stone-cutter. It is used in the sense of a Freemasons in Molart's 
Latin Register, quoted in the notes to Preston, note 17. A purer 
Latin word is lapicida, which Ains worth defines " a stone-cutter, 
a Freemason. "* Architecto is used by some writers. 

LAWS OF MASONRY. The laws of masonry are of two 
kinds, local and universal. The local laws are those enacted by 
Grand and subordinate lodges for the government of their mem- 
bers. These, of course, may be altered or annulled at the pleasure 
of the bodies who originally framed them. The universal laws are 
those handed down by universal consent from times immemorial, 
and which govern the fraternity throughout the world. These are 
irrevocable, for they constitute a part of the ancient landmarks. 
We will give an example of each kind. The rule regulating the 
amount of the fee to be paid on the admission of candidates is a 
local law, and varies in every country. But the law which de- 
clares that no woman can be admitted, is universal, and controls 
every lodge on the face of the globe. 

LEBANON OR LIBANUS. A mountain, or rather a range 
of mountains in Syria, extending from beyond Sidon to Tyre, and 
forming the northern boundary of Palestine. Lebanon is cele- 
brated for the cedars which it produces, many of which are from 50 
to 80 feet in height, and cover with their branches a space of 
ground, the diameter of which is still greater. Hiram, King of 

*The "Acta Latomorum," a modern French work, states that the word la- 
thnus was first applied by the Jesuits to designate a Freemason. The use of 
Lt in 1429, by Molart, proves that this is not so. Ragon has very truly said 
chat the statements of the "Acta Latomorum" require verification before they 
3an be received as authentic. 



272 LEC 

Tyre, in whose dominions Mount Lebanon was situated, furnished 
these trees for the building of the temple of Solomon. 

LECTURE. Each degree of. masonry contains a course of 
instruction, in which the ceremonies, traditions, and moral in- 
struction appertaining to the degree, are set forth. This arrange- 
ment is called a lecture. Each lecture, for the sake of con- 
venience, and for the purpose of conforming to certain divisions 
in the ceremonies, is divided into sections, the number of which 
have varied at different periods, although the substance remains 
the same. According to Preston, the lecture of the first degree 
contains six sections ; that of the second, four; and that of "the 
third, twelve. But according to the arrangment adopted in this 
country, there are three sections in the first degree, two in the 
second, and three in the third. 

In the Entered Apprentice's degree, the first section describes 
the proper mode of initiation, and supplies the means of qualify- 
ing us for our privileges, and of testing the claims of others. The 
second section rationally accounts for all the ceremonies peculiar 
to this degree. The third section explains the nature and prin- 
ciples of our institution, and instructs us in the form and con- 
struction of the lodge, furnishing, in conclusion, some important 
lessons on the various virtues which should distinguish a Free- 
mason. 

In the Fellow Craft's degree, the first section recapitulates the 
ceremonies of passing a candidate. The second section gives an 
account of the ancient division of our institution into operative 
and speculative Masons, and, by striking emblems, directs the 
candidate to an attentive study of the liberal arts and sciences. 

In the Master's degree, the first section illustrates the ancient 
and proper mode of raising a candidate to this sublime degree 
In the second section, the historical traditions of the order are 
introduced, and an important instance of masonic virtue is exem- 
plified In the third section, our emblems are explained, and 
the construction of Solomon's Temple described. 



LEC 273 

There does not seem to have been any established system of 
lectures, such as now exist, previous to the revival of masonry in 
the beginning of the eighteenth century. In 1720, Desaguliers 
and Anderson, the compilers of the Book of Constitutions, ar- 
ranged the lectures for the first time in a catechetical form, from 
the old Charges and other masonic documents that were then 
extant. Of this system, Dr. Oliver informs us that "the first 
lecture extended to the greatest length, but the replies were cir- 
cumscribed within a very narrow compass. The second was 
shorter, and the third, called < the Master's Part/ contained only 
seven questions, besides the explanations cixid examinations."* 
The imperfection of these lectures loudly called for a revision of 
them, which was accordingly accomplished in 1732 by brother 
Martin Clare, a man of talent, and afterwards a Deputy Grand 
Master. Clare's amendments, however, amounted to little more 
than the addition of a few moral and scriptural admonitions, and 
the insertion of a simple allusion to the human senses, and to 
the theological ladder. 

Subsequently, Thomas Dunckerley, who was considered as the 
most intelligent Mason of the day, extended and improved the 
lectures, and among other things first gave to the theological 
ladder its three most important rounds. 

The lectures thus continued until 1763, when Hutchinson 
gave them an improved form, which was still further extended 
in 1772, by Preston, who remained for a long time the standard. 
But at the union of the two Grand Lodges of England, in 1813, 
Dr. Hemming established that system which is now generally 
practised in the English lodges. 

The lectures of Preston were early introduced into this coun- 
try, having been, however, much modified by T. S. Webb, whose 
system has been the basis of all those taught since his day in the 
lodges of the United States. No changes of any importance 
Lave been made in the lectures, in- t\is country, since their first 
introduction. 

* Symbol of Glory, Lect. I., p. 17. 



27 J. LEC— LEG 

These constitute the simple text of masonry, while the ex 
tended illustrations which are given to them by an intelligent 
Master or Lecturer, and which he can only derive from a careful 
study of scripture, of history, of the manuscript lectures of the 
philosophical degrees, and lastly, of the published works of 
learned masonic writers, constitute the commentary, without 
which the simple text would be comparatively barren and unin- 
stractive. These commentaries are the philosophy of masonry, 
and without an adequate knowledge of them no brother can be 
entitled to claim our technical title of " a bright Mason." In 
relation to this subject, the following extract from the Free- 
mason's Quarterly Review, published at London, deserves preser- 
vation.* 

" Our masonic society has to this day retained many interest- 
ing symbols in its instructions, when properly explained by a 
scientific Lecturer, and not garbled by ignorant pretenders, who, 
by dint merely of a good memory and some assurance, intrude 
themselves on a well-informed assembly of brethren, by giving a 
lecture not composed by themselves, but taught them verbatim." 

LECTURER. A brother of skill and intelligence, entrusted 
with the task of instructing the lodges in the proper mode of 
work, in the ceremonies, usages, legends, history, and science of 
the order. When the appointment emanates, a3 it always should, 
from a Grand Lodge, he is called a Grand Lecturer. 

LEGEND. A legend may properly be defined a traditional 
tale.f All countries and all religions have their legends. In 
the ancient mysteries there was always a legend on which much 
symbolical instruction was based. These legends of the mys- 
teries, although they varied as to tre subject of the history in 



* Vol. ii. p. 274. 

f The word is derived from the Latin legenda, " things to be read," because 
it was formerly the custom to read portions of some of the religious legends, 
which abound in tho Roman Church to people at morning prayer. 



LEV 275 

each, yet all agree in this, that they were funereal in their cha- 
racter — that they commemorated the death by violence, and the 
subsequent resurrection, of some favourite hero or hero-god — and 
that beginning with lamentation they ended in joy. 

" In like manner Freemasonry has its legends and allegorical 
references, many of them founded in fact, and capable of un- 
questionable proof, while others are based on Jewish traditions, 
and only invested with probability, while they equally inculcate 
and enforce the most solemn and important truths/'* Of these 
legends, the one which may, by way of excellence, be called 
" The Legend," and which more particularly is connected with 
the Master's degree, it may be supposed was substituted by our 
ancient brethren, when they united themselves at the Temple 
with the Dionysians, for the pagan and apocryphal legend cf 
Bacchus, celebrated by that society. "j* 

LEVEL. An emblem of equality. In the sight of God, 
who alone is great, all men are equal, subject to the same infirm- 
ities, hastening to the same goal, and preparing to be judged by 
the same immutable law. In this sense only do Masons speak 
of the equality which should reign in the lodge ; but as " peace- 
able subjects to the civil powers," they deny the existence of 
that revolutionary equality, which, levelling all distinctions of 
ranks, would tend to beget confusion, insubordination, and anar- 
chy in the state. 

The level is one of the working tools of a Fellow Craft, ad- 
monishing him, by its peculiar uses, of that vast level of time 
on which all men are travelling, to its limit in eternity. 

The level is also the jewel worn by the Senior Warden, as the 
distinctive badge of his office, reminding him that while he pre- 
sides over the labours of the lodge, as the Junior Warden does 
over its refreshments, it is his duty to see that every brother 

* Oliver's Landmarks, vol. p. 399. 

f Sie the account of the union of the Dionysians with the Masons at th» 
CttupiOj in the article " Antiquity of Masonry," in this work. 



2 ~ 6 LEW 

meets upon the level, and that the principle of equality is pre- 
served during the work, without which, harmony, the chief sup- 
port of our institution, could not be preserved. 

LEWIS, or LOUVETEAU. The words lewis and louve- 
teau, which, m their original meaniugs, import two very different 
things, have in masonry an equivalent signification— the former 
being used in England, and the latter in France, to designate 
the son of a mason. 

The English word lewis is a term belonging to operative ma- 
sonry, and signifies an iron cramp, which is inserted in a cavity 
prepared for the purpose in any large stone, so as to give attach- 
ment to a pulley and hook, whereby the stone may be conve- 
niently raised to any height, and deposited in its proper position. 
In this country, the lewis has not been adopted as a symbol of 
Freemasonry, but in the English ritual it is found among the 
emblems placed upon the Tracing Board of the Entered Appren- 
tice, and is used in that degree as a symbol of strength, because 
by its assistance the operative mason is enabled to lift the heaviest 
stones with a comparatively trifling exertion of physical power 
Extending the symbolic allusion still further, the son of a Mason 
is m England called a lewis, because it is his duty to support the 
sinking powers and aid the failing strength of his father, or as 
Oliver has expressed it, "to bear the burden and heat of 'the 
day, that his parents may rest in their old age; thus rendering 
the evening of their lives peaceful and happy." 

% the constitutions of England, a lewis, or son of a Mason 
may be initiated at the age of eighteen, while it is required of 
all other candidates that they shall have arrived at the maturer 
age of twenty-one. The Book of Constitutions had prescribed 
that no lodge should make « any man under the age of twenty, 
one years, unless hij a dispensation from the Grand Master or 
his deputy/' The Grand Lodge of England, in its modern re 
gulations, has availed itself of the license allowed by this dis 



LIB 277 

pensing power, to confer the right of an earlier initiation on the 
sons of Masons. 

The word louveteau, signifies, in French, a young wolf. The 
application of the term to the son of a Mason, is derived from a 
peculiarity in some of the initiations into the ancient mysteries. 
In the mysteries of Isis, which were practised in Egypt, the 
candidate was made to wear the mask of a wolf's head. Hence, 
a wolf and a candidate in these mysteries were often used as sy- 
nonymous terms. Macrobius, in his Saturnalia, says, in refer- 
ence to this custom, that the ancients perceived a relationship 
between the sun, the great symbol in these mysteries, and a 
wolf, which the candidate represented at his initiation. For, he 
remarks, as the flocks of sheep and cattle fly and disperse at the 
sight of the wolf, so the flocks of stars disappear at the approach 
of the sun's light. The learned reader will also recollect that in 
the Greek language luhos signifies both the sun and a wolf. 

Hence, as the candidate in the Isaic mysteries was called a 
wolf, the son of a Freemason in the French lodges is called a 
young wolf or a louveteau. 

The louveteau in France, like the lewis in England, is invested 
with peculiar privileges. He also is permitted to unite himself 
with the order at the early age of eighteen years. The baptism 
of a louveteau is sometimes performed by the lodge, of which his 
father is a member, with impressive ceremonies. The infant, 
soon after birth, is taken to the lodge room, where he receives a 
masonic name, differing from that which he bears in the world ; 
he is formally adopted by the lodge as one of its children, and 
should he become an orphan, requiring assistance, he is supported 
and educated by the fraternity, and finally established in life. 

In this country these rights of a lewis or a louveteau are not 
recognised, and the very names were, until lately, scarcely known, 
except to a few masonic scholars. 

LTBANUS. The Latin name of Lebanon, which see. 
24 



278 LIB— LIG 

LIBATION. The libation was a very ancient ceremony, and 
among the Greeks and Romans constituted an essential part of 
every sacrifice. The material of the libation differed according 
to the different deities in honour of whom they were made, but 
wine was the most usual. Libations are still used in some of the 
higher degrees of masonry. 

LIBERTINE. The man who lives without the restraint of 
conscience, licentiously violating the moral law, and paying no 
regard to the precepts of religion, is unworthy to become a mem- 
ber of that institution which boasts that its principles are in- 
tended to make all its members good men and true; and hence 
our Old Charges lay down a rule that " a Mason is obliged, by 
his tenure, to obey the moral law; and if he rightly understands 
the art, he will never be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious liber 
tine." The word " libertine" in this passage is used in its primitive 
signification of a freethinker or disbeliever in the truths of religion. 

LIGHT. Light was the object, and its attainment the end, 
of all the ancient mysteries. In the Grecian system of initiation, 
the hierophant declared that all mankind, except the initiated, 
were in darkness. In the Persian rites, the Divine Lights were 
displayed before the aspirant at the moment of illumination, and 
he was instructed by the Archimagus, that, at the end of the 
world, the bad should be plunged with Ahriman into a state of 
perpetual darkness, while the good should ascend with Yazdan, 
upon a ladder, to a state of eternal light.* The Persians conse- 
crated fire, as containing the principle of light, and the Druids 
worshipped the Sun as its eternal source. 

Freemasons, too, travel in search of spiritual light, which can 
be found only in the East, from whence it springs, and having 
attained its possession, they are thenceforth called " the sons of 
light." But the light of masonry is pure, as emanating from 

* Oliver, Signs and Symbols, p. 107. 



LIL 979 

the source of all purity and perfection ; and Masons, remember- 
ing that they are brought out of darkness into light, are admon- 
ished to let the light which is in them so shine before all men, 
that their good works may be seen, and the great fountain of 
that light be glorified. See Darkness. 

LILY. The white lily is one of the field-flowers of Judea, 
and is repeatedly alluded to in the Scriptures, as an emblem of 
purity. It occupied a conspicuous place among the ornaments 
of the temple furniture. The brim of the molten sea was 
wrought with flowers of lilies, the chapiters on the tops of the 
pillars at the porch, and the tops of the pillars themselves, were 
adorned with the same plant. Sir Robert Ker Porter, describing 
a piece of sculpture which he found at Persepolis, says, " Almost 
every one in this procession holds in his hand a figure like the 
lotos. This flower was full of meaning among the ancients, and 
occurs all over the East. Egypt, Persia, Palestine, and India, 
present t > every where over their architecture, in the hands and 
on the heads of their sculptured figures, whether in statue or in 
bas relief. We also find it in the sacred vestments and architec- 
ture of the tabernacle and temple of the Israelites, and see it 
mentioned by our Saviour, as an image of peculiar beauty and 
glory, when comparing the works of nature with the decorations 
of art. It is also represented in all pictures of the salutation of 
Gabriel to the Virgin Mary; and, in fact, has been held in mys- 
terious veneration by people of all nations and times. ' It is the 
symbol of divinity, of purity, and abundance, and of a love most 
complete in perfection, charity, and benediction ; as in Holy 
Scripture, that mirror of purity, Susanna is defined Susa, which 
signified the lily flower, the chief city of the Persians, bearing 
that name for excellency. Hence, the lily's three leaves in the 
arms of France, meaneth Piety, Justice, and Charity.' So far, 
the general impression of a peculiar regard to t lis beautiful and 
fragrant flower; but the early Persians attached to it a peculiar 
sanctity/' 



280 LIN— LOD 

LINE. The line is a cord, to the end of which a piece of lead 
is attached, so that it ruay hang perpendicularly. The line is 
one of the working tools of a Past Master. Operative masons 
make use of the line to prove that their work is duly perpen- 
dicular, but by it the Past Master is taught the criterion of 
moral rectitude, to avoid dissimulation in conversation and ac- 
tion, and to direct his steps to the path which leads to a glorious 
'mmortality. 

LINES PARALLEL. See Parallel lines. 

LINGAM. See Phallus. 

LION OF THE TEIBE OF JUDAH. See Judah. 

LODGE. The room in which a regularly constituted body 
of Freemasons assemble, for the purposes connected with the 
institution, is called a lodge.* The term is also used to desig- 
nate the collection of Masons thus assembled ; just as we use 
the word " church" to signify the building in which a congre- 
gation of worshippers assembles, as well as the congregation 
itself. 

Our English brethren, in their lectures, define a lodge to be 
" an assembly of Masons, just, perfect, and regular, who are met 
together to expatiate on the mysteries of the order ; just, because 
it contains the volume of the sacred law, unfolded; perfect, from 
its numbers, every order of masonry being virtually present by 
its representatives, to ratify and confirm its proceedings j and 
regular, from its Warrant of Constitution, which implies the 
sanction of the Grand Master for the country where the lodge 
is held." 

A lodge of Freemasons must be legally constituted ; that is, it 

* Ragon (Cours Philosophique) says that the word lodge is derived from 
the Sanscrit log a, which signifies the xoorld. This is illustrated by our article 
on the Form of the Lodge. 



LOD 281 

iiust be in possession of a Charter or Warrant of Constitution, 
emanating from the Grand Lodge in whose jurisdiction it is 
situated. This warrant must also be in full force, for if it has 
been revoked or recalled by the Grand Lodge from which it 
emanated, the lodge ceases to be legally constituted, and all its 
proceedings are void. A body of Masons assembled to transact 
masonic business, without the authority of a warrant of consti- 
tution, or under a warrant whose authority has been revoked, is 
styled a " Clandestine Lodge/' and its members are called 
" Clandestine Masons." In thus meeting, they are guilty of a 
high masonic misdemeanor, and become, by the very act itself, 
expelled from the order. 

This restriction in respect- to the constitution of a lodge did 
not always exist. Formerly any number of brethren* might 
assemble at any place for the performance of work, and when 
so assembled, were authorized to receive into the order, brothers 
and fellows, and to practice the rites of masonry. The ancient 
charges were the only standard for the regulation of their con- 
duct. The Master of the lodge was elected pro tempore, and his 
authority terminated with the dissolution of the meeting over 
which he had presided, unless the lodge was permanently esta- 
blished at any particular place. To the general assembly of the 
craft, held once or twice a year, all the brethren indiscriminately 
were amenable, and to that power alone. But on the formation 
of Grand Lodges, this inherent right of assembling was volunta- 
rily surrendered by the brethren and the lodges, and vested in 
the Grand Lodge. And from this time warrants of constitution 
date their existence. f 

In addition to this charter or warrant of constitution, every 
well regulated lodge is also furnished with a Bible, square, and 
compasses, which by their symbolic signification enlighten the 

* Our unwritten laws say that three must rale a lodge, five may hold a lodge, 
out only seven can make a lodge perfect 

f The first warrant granted by the Grand Lodge of England, after its 
organization in 1717, is dated 1718. 

-4 * 



282 LOD 

mind of the Mason and guide him in the path of his duty. h 
lodge has also a peculiar form, support, and covering, and is sup- 
plied with furniture, ornaments, lights and jewels, all of which 
afford means of symbolic instruction, and are explained in the third 
section of the first lecture. 

Officers. — A lodge of Ancient York Masons is composed of 
the following oflicers. A Worshipful Master, a Senior and a 
Junior Warden, Treasurer, Secretary, Senior and Junior Deacon, 
and a Tiler. The latter is not necessarily a member of the lodge. 
To these, some lodges add two Stewards, and sometimes a Chap- 
lain. The Senior Deacon is always appointed by the Master, and 
the Junior by the Senior Warden. The Stewards are generally 
appointed by the Junior Warden. The Tiler is sometimes elected 
by the lodge, and sometimes appointed by the Master. The rest 
of the officers are always elected annually. 

The officers in a lodge of the French rite are more numerous, some 
corresponding, and others bearing no analogy to those in a York 
lodge. They are as follows : Le Venerable or Worshipful Master, 
Premier and Second Surveillants or Senior and Junior Wardens, 
Orator, Treasurer, Secretary, Hospitaler or collector of alms, the 
Expert, combining the duties of the Senior Deacon and an 
examining committee, Master of Ceremonies, Architecte, who 
attends to the decoration of the lodge, and superintends the finan- 
cial department, Archiviste or Librarian, Keeper of the Seal, 
Master of the Banquets or Steward, and Guardian of the Temple 
or Tiler. 

In lodges of the Scotch rite, there are, in addition to these, two 
Deacons, a Standard Bearer, and a Sword Bearer. 

In the rite of Misraim, the Wardens are called Assessors, and 
the Deacons, Acolytes. 

Symbolic Signification of the Lodge. — Symbolically a Mason's 
lodge is a representation of the world. Its clouded canopy is an 
emblem of those mansions of unutterable bliss, where the Grand 
Master of the Universe forever reigns, whose all-seeing eye be- 
holds, with unceasing complacency, the efforts of his creatures *o 



LCI 283 

do his will. To that abode of the blessed the Mason it taught to 
aspire, while the path is indicated by the theological ladder, whoee 
principal rounds are faith, hope, and charity. The Sun, the eter- 
nal fountain of light, the unwearied ruler of the day, shines in 
the lodge, a bright exponent of his Creator's power, while the 
Moon, the glorious orb of night, repeats the lesson of divine mu- 
nificence. Here, too, are we taught, that the vast universe over 
which this Omnipotence presides, was no work of chance, but 
that its foundations are laid in wisdom, supported by strength, and 
adorned with beauty. And as the presence of the Almighty 
illuminates with refulgent splendour the most distant recesses of 
the universe, so is the lodge enlightened by the presence of his 
revealed will. And hence the Bible, as it is of all lights the most 
pure, is to the Mason the most indispensable. And, finally, as 
this world, vast in its extent and complicated in its motions, is 
governed and regulated with unceasing concord and harmony, so 
is the lodge controlled and directed by the same spirits of peace, 
which, emanating in brotherly love, relief, and truth, find their full 
fruition in universal charity. 

The lodge, technically speaking, in reference to the ceremony 
of consecration, is a piece of furniture made in imitation of the 
Ark of the Covenant, which was constructed by Bazaleel, accord- 
ing to .the form prescribed by God himself, and which, after the 
erection of the Temple, was kept in the Holy of Holies. As it 
contained the table of the laws, the lodge contains the Book of 
Constitutions and the warrant of constitution granted by the 
G-rand Lodge. Such is the general usage in America, but in 
England the " tracing boards" are technically called " the lodge." 
In London the term " lodge board " is used, which at a consocia- 
tion is covered with a white cloth, and on it the vessels of corn, 
wine and oil are placed. 

LODGE ROOM. The Masons on the continent of Europe 
have a prescribed form or ritual of building, according to whose 
directions it is absolutely necessary that every hall for masonic 



284 LOD 

purposes shall be erected. No such regulation exists among the 
fraternity of this country or Great Britain. Still the usages of 
the craft, and the objects of convenience in the administration of 
jur rites, require that certain general rules should be followed in 
the construction of a lodge room. These rules relate to its posi- 
tion, its form, and its decorations. 

A lodge room should always, if possible, be situated due east 
and west. This position is not absolutely necessary, and yet it 
is so far so as to demand that some sacrifices should be made, if 
possible, to obtain so desirable a position. It should also be iso- 
lated, where it is practicable, from all surrounding buildings, and 
should always be placed in an upper story. No lodge should 
ever be held on the ground floor. 

The form of a lodge room should be that of a parallelogram 
or oblong square, at least one-third larger from east to west than 
it is from north to south. The ceiling should be lofty, to give 
dignity to the appearance of the hall, as well as for the purposes 
of health, by compensating, in some degree, for the inconveni- 
ence of closed windows, which necessarily will deteriorate the 
quality of the air in a very short time in a low room. The ap- 
proaches to the lodge room, from without should be angular, for, 
as Oliver says, " A straight entrance is unmasonic, and cannot 
be tolerated."* There should be two entrances to the room, 
which should be situated in the west, and on each side of the 
Senior Warden's station. The one on his right hand is for the 
introduction of visitors and members, and leading from the 
Tiler's room, is called the Tiler's, or the outer door; the other, 
on his left, leading from the preparation room, is known as the 
" inner door," and sometimes called the " northwest door." 
The situation of these two doors, as well as the rooms with 
which they are connected, and which are essentially necessary in 
a well-constructed lodge room, may be seen from the diagram 
in the following page, which also exhibits the seats of the officers 
and the arrangement of the altar and lights. 

* Book of the Lodge, p. 47. 



LOB 

East. 



285 



Platform for 




3 

at 

m 
-*- 


Platform for 


Past Masters. 




Past Masters. 












$ 




Senior Deacon. 




* Treasurer. 






Secretary. * 




* 
* 




•pjtmaig # 


Altar. 










•uopiB^ joiunp % 








•pJBAi^g * 






1 § 
1 8 

£ ft 




Inner 




o 1 

'3 3 

o 3 
CQ 1-5 

* * 


Outer 


door 








door 


Preparation Room. 




D( 


or. 


Tiler's Room. 













"West. 



286 LOG 

The whole of the east end of the lodge should be elevated 
from the floor by a platform running across the room, and as- 
cended by three steps. The windows should be either in the 
roof of the building, or at least very high from the floor. The 
Helvetian ritual prescribes that the lower part of the window 
should be seven and a half feet from the surface of the floor. 
By these means our mysteries are adequately secured from the 
profanation of "prying eyes." 

The decorations of a lodge should be altogether masonic. The 
following directions on this subject are given in the Helvetian 
ritual of building : 

" A good lodge may be known by its ornaments. In most 
lodges, all sorts of decorations are heaped together, without the 
slightest attention to propriety. There should be no picture, 
statue or emblem of heathen deities, nor any bust or picture of 
heathen philosophers. The proper images or emblems are to be 
taken from the Bible, which alone contains the authentic records 
of ancient masonry. The decorations should be masonic emblems, 
intersecting triangles, the triple tau, square and compasses, 
death's head, &c. ; these, if properly managed, can be made 
highly ornamental." 

The floor of the lodge should be covered with a carpet or oil 
cloth, made of a Mosaic pattern ; and the ceiling, if painted, 
should represent the " clouded canopy." The curtains, cushions, 
&c, of a symbolic lodge, should be of light or sky blue, and 
those of a chapter room scarlet. 

LOGIC. The art of reasoning, and one of the seven liberal 
arts and sciences, whose uses are inculcated in the second degree. 
The power of right reasoning, which distinguishes the man of 
sane mind from the madman and the idiot, is deemed essential to 
the Mason, that he may comprehend both his rights and his du- 
ties. And hence the unfortunate beings just named, who are 
without this necessary mental quality, are denied admission into 



LOU— LUX 287 

LOUYETEAU. See Lewis. 

LOWEN. An old word, signifying, most probably, a disre- 
putable person. Webster defines lown, which seems to be the 
same word, without the old Saxon termination en, " a low fellow/' 
The word is found in the " Ancient Charges at the constituting 
of a Lodge/' belonging to the Lodge of Antiquity, London. 
" Twelvethly, That a Master or Fellow make not a mould stone, 
square, nor rule, to no lowen, nor let no lowen worke within 
their lodge, nor without to mould stone." 

LUSTRATION. A purification by water. This was an in- 
dispensable pre-requisite to initiation into all the ancient myste- 
ries. The lustration in Freemasonry is mental. No aspirant 
can be admitted to participate in our sacred rites until he is tho- 
roughly cleansed from all pollution of guilt. In some of the 
higher degrees of the Ancient and Accepted rite a lustration or 
ablution is practised. 

LUX. Light. Freemasonry anciently received, among other 
names, that of " Lux/' because it is to be regarded as the doc- 
trine of Truth, and in this sense may be said to be coeval with 
creation, as an emanation from the Divine Intelligence. Among 
the Rosicrucians, light was the knowledge of the philosopher's 
stone, and Mosheim says that in chemical language the cross -J- 
was an emblem of light, because it contains within its figure the 
forms of the three letters, of which LVX or light is composed 

LUX E TENEBRIS. Light out of darkness. A masonic 
motto, expressive of the object of masonry, and of what the 
true Mason supposes himself to have attained. 



288 MAA— MAK 

M. 

MAACHA. In the 10th degree of the Scotch Rite we are 
informed that certain traitors fled to " Maacha king of Cheth," 
by whom they were delivered up to King Solomon on his sending 
for them. In 1 Kings ii. 39, we find it recorded that two of the 
servants of Shimei fled from Jerusalem to " Achish, son of 
Maacha king of Gath." I am inclined to believe from this pas- 
sage, that the carelessness of the early copyists of the ritual led 
to the double error of putting Cheth for Gath and of supposing 
that Maacha was its king instead of its king's father. The 
manuscripts of the Scotch or Ancient and Accepted rite, too 
often copied by unlearned persons, show many such corruptions 
of Hebrew names, which modern researches must eventually 
correct. 

MAC. A Hebrew word which is said to signify " is smitten," 
from the verb i"03 nacha to smite. This is not however a pure 
derivation. It may be the word pft mak, " rottenness," and in 
its appropriate place would then signify "there is rotteness" or 
11 he is rotten." 

MAH. The Hebrew interrogative pronoun j-]»j signifying 
"what?" 

MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ. Four Hebrew words 
which the prophet Isaiah was ordered to write upon a tablet, 
and which were afterwards to be the name of his son. They 
signify, " make haste to the prey, fall upon the spoil," and were 
prognostic of the sudden attack of the Assyrians. They may 
be said, in their masonic use, to be symbolic of the readiness for 
action which should distinguish a warrior. 

MAKE. " To make Masons" is a very ancient term, used 



MAL— MAR 289 

tn the oldest charges extant, as synonymous with the verb 
"initiate." 

MALLET. One of the working tools of a Mark Master, 
having the same emblematic meaning as the common gavel in 
the Entered Apprentice's degree. It teaches us to correct the 
irregularities of temper, and, like enlightened reason, to curb 
the aspirations of unbridled ambition, to depress the malignity 
of envy, and to moderate the ebullition of anger. It relieves 
the mind from all the excrescences of vice, and fits it, as a well 
wrought stone, for that exalted station in the great temple of 
nature, to which, as an emanation of the Deity, it is entitled. 

The mallet or setting maul is also an emblem of the third 
degree, and is said to have been the implement by which the 
stones were set up at the temple. It is often improperly con- 
founded with the common gavel. 

MANUAL. Belonging to the hand, from the Latin manus, 
a hand. Masons are, in a peculiar manner, reminded by the 
hand, of the necessity of a prudent and careful observance of 
all their pledges and duties, and hence this organ suggests 
certain symbolic instructions in relation to the virtue of pru- 
dence. 

MARK. It is a plate of gold or silver, worn by Mark 
Masters. The form is generally that of a Mark Master's key- 
stone, within the circular inscription there being engraved a 
device, selected by the owner. This mark, on being adopted by 
a Mark Master, is recorded in the Book of Marks, and it is not 
lawful for him ever afterwards to exchange it for any other. 
It is a peculiar pledge of friendship, and its presentation by a 
destitute brother to another Mark Master, claims from the latter 
certain offices of friendship and hospitality, which are of solemn 
obligation among the brethren of this degree. 

Marks or pledges of this kind were of frequent use anions? 

25 



290 MAR 

the ancients, under the name of tessera hospjtalis and "ar- 
rhabo." The nature of the tessera hospitah's, or, as the Greeks 
called it, <ju;j.ftoXov } cannot be better described than in the words 
of the Scholiast on the Media of Euripides, v. 613, where Jason 
promises Medea, on her parting from him, to send her the sym- 
bols of hospitality which should procure her a kind reception in 
foreign countries. It was the custom, says the Scholiast, when a 
guest had been entertained, to break a die in two parts, one of 
which parts was retained by the guest, so that if, at any future 
period he required assistance, on exhibiting the broken pieces of 
the die to each other, the friendship was renewed. Plautus, in 
one of his comedies, gives us an exemplification of the manner 
in which these tesserae or pledges of friendship were used at 
Rome, whence it appears that the privileges of this friendship 
were extended to the descendants of the contracting parties. 
Pcenulus is introduced, inquiring for Agorastocles, with whose 
family he had formerly exchanged the tessera. 
il Ag. Antidimarchus' adopted son, 
If you do seek, I am the very man. 
Poen. How! do I hear aright? 
Ag. I am the son 
Of old Antidamus. 

Poen. If so, I pray you 
Compare with me the hospitable die. 
I've brought this with me. 

Ag. Prithee, let me see it. 
It is, indeed, the very counterpart 
Of mine at home. 

Poen. All hail, my welcome guest, 
Your father was my guest, Antidamus. 
Your father was my honoured guest, and then 
This hospitable die with me he parted."* 

* Ag. Siquidem Antidimarchi quaeris adoptatitium. 
Ego sum ipsus quem tu quaeris. 
Pan. Hem! quid ego audio ? 



MAR 291 

These tesserse, thus used, like the Mark Master's mark, for 
the purposes of perpetuating friendship and rendering its union 
more sacred, were constructed in the following manner: they took 
a small piece of bone, ivory or stone, generally of a square or 
cubical form, and dividing it into equal parts, each wrote his own 
name, or some other inscription, upon one of the pieces; they 
then made a mutual exchange, and, lest falling into other hands 
it should give occasion to imposture, the pledge was preserved 
with the greatest secrecy, and no one knew the name inscribed 
upon it except the possessor. 

The primitive Christians seem to have adopted a similar prac- 
tice, and the tessera was carried by them in their travels, as a 
means of introduction to their fellow Christians. A favourite in- 
scription with them were the letters II. T. A. II., being the initials 
of IIaTr h o, Tcoq, Aycov Ilvsu/ia, or Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
The use of these tesserae, in the place of written certificates, con- 
tinued, says Dr. Harris, until the 11th century, at which time 
they are mentioned by Burchardus, Archbishop of "Worms, in a 
visitation charge.* 

The arrhabo was a similar keepsake, formed by breaking a 
piece of money in two. The etymology of this word shows dis- 
tinctly that the Romans borrowed the custom of these pledges 
from the ancient Israelites. For it is derived from the Hebrew 
arahon, a pledge. 

With this detail of the customs of the ancients before us, we 
can easily explain the well-known passage in Revelation, ii. 17 
u To him that overcometh will I give a white stone, and in it a 



Ag. Antidamas me gnatuni esse. 

Pcen. Si ita est, tesserain 
Conferre si vis hospitaletn, eceam, attuli. 

Ag. Ageduru hue ostende ;, est per probe ; nam habeo domum. 

Poen. mi hospes, salve multum ; nam mihi tuus pater, 
Pater tuus ergo hospes, Antidamas fuit : 
Hsec mil hospitalis tessera cum illo fuit. 

Pcenul. act. v., s. c. 2, ver. 85. 
* Harris, Diss, on the Tess. Hospit., $ vi. 

25' 



292 MAR 

new name written, which no man knoweth saving lie that re- 
ceiveth it." That is, to borrow the interpretation of Harris, 
" To him that overcometh will I give a pledge of my affection, 
which shall constitute him my friend, and entitle him to privi- 
leges and honours, of which none else can know the value or the 
extent.* 

MARK MAN. According to masonic tradition, the Mark 
Men were the "Wardens, as the Mark Masters were the Masters 
of the Fellow Craft lodges,f at the building of the Temple. 
They distributed the marks to the workmen, and made the first 
inspection of the work, which was afterwards to be approved 
by the overseers. As a degree, the Mark Man is not recoguised 
in America, and I am not aware that it is worked as such in 
England, although Carlyle gives us its ritual. Oliver, at least, 
mentions it only incidentally in his chronological catalogue. 

MARK MASTER. The 4th degree in the American 
rite. We are told in Holy Writ, that Solomon employed 
113,600 craftsmen in the construction of the Temple. To con- 
trol this vast multitude of workmen, to inspect their work with 
accuracy, and to pay their wages with punctuality and correct- 
ness, so that harmony might continue to exist among all, must 
have required a judicious system of government, in which every 
avenue to imposition was guarded with unceasing vigilance, and 
the very best means adopted of rewarding the industrious, and 
of discovering and punishing the idle. With such a system 
alone was it possible to construct an edifice of the size of Solo- 
mon's Temple in but little more than seven years, while the 
Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, in every respect inferior to it, oc- 



* Harris, Diss, on the Tess. Hospit., $ vii 

f Only those working in the quarries were, I suppose, thus governed. The 
Fellow Crafts on Mount Lebanon were differently arranged. This is, however, 
all supposition, though a different theory would be incongruous with the history 
of the Mark degree. 



MAR 293 

cupied the amazing period of two hundred and twenty years in 
building. This system of government, Mark Masters assert, is 
preserved in their degree, and its historical ceremonies consist 
principally in a recapitulation of the manner in which this work 
was conducted, exemplifying, by the relation of an event which 
is said to have occurred, the necessity of circumspection on the 
one part, and of honest industry on the other. The degree also 
inculcates the virtue of charity, and draws still closer the bonds 
of mutual friendship, which unite us into one common brother- 
hood of love. 

In this country, the Mark Master's is the first degree given in 
a Royal Arch Chapter. Its officers are a Right Worshipful 
Master, Senior and Junior Wardens, Secretary, Treasurer, 
Senior and Junior Deacons, Master, Senior and Junior Over- 
seers. The degree cannot be conferred when less than six are 
present, who, in that case, must be the first and last three officers 
above named. The working tools are the Mallet and indenting 
Chisel, (which see.) 

In England, the Mark degree, at one time not recognized, is now 
practised under a distinct organization. The Grand Lodge of Mark 
Master Masons of England and Wales was founded in the year 1856. 
In Scotland. the degree is conferred under the authority of the Grand 
Chapter. Mark Masters' Lodges in America were formerly some- 
times organized independently of chapters, deriving their war- 
rants directly from a Grand Chapter. But such lodges have 
lately been forbidden by the revised constitution of the General 
Grand Chapter of the United States, and no longer exist in the 
States which acknowledge the supremacy of that body. 

MARK OF THE CRAET. Masonic tradition informs us 
that, at the building of King Solomon's temple, every Mason 
was provided with a peculiar mark, which he placed upon his 
work, t> distinguish it from that of his fellows. By the aid of 
these n arks the overseers were enabled, without difficulty, to 



294 MAR 

trace any piece of defective work to the faulty workman, and 
every chance of imposition, among so large an assemblage of 
craftsmen as were engaged at the Temple, was thus effectually 
prevented. 

History confirms the truth of this tradition, because it clearly 
shows that a similar usage has always existed among operative 
Masons. These marks have been found at Spire, Worms, Straa- 
burg, Rheims, Basle, and other places; and M. Didron, who re- 
ported a series of observations,* on the subject of these Masons' 
marks, to the Comite Historique ties Arts et Monumens, of Paris, 
believes that he can discover in them references to distinct 
schools or lodges of Masons. He divides them into two classes : 
those of the overseers and those of the men who worked the 
stones. The marks of the first class consist of monogrammatic 
characters; those of the second, are of the nature of symbols, 
such as shoes, trowels, mallets, &c. 

A correspondent of the Freemason's Quarterly Review states 
that similar marks are to be found on the stones which compose 
the walls of the fortress of Allahabad, which was erected in 
1542, in the East Indies. " The walls," says this writer, " are 
composed of large oblong blocks of red granite, and are almost 
every where covered by masonic emblems, which evince some- 
thing more than mere ornament. They are not confined to one 
particular spot, but are scattered over the walls of the fortress, 
in many places as high as thirty or forty feet from the ground. 
It is quite certain that thousands of stones on the walls, bearing 
these masonic symbols, were carved, marked, and numbered in 
the quarry, previous to the erection of the building." 

In the ancient buildings of England and France, these marks 
are to be found in great abundance. In a communication, on 
this subject, to the London Society of Antiquaries, Mr. Godwin 
states, " that, in his opinion, these marks, if collected and coin- 

* Quoted by Godwin, in the Archaeological Transactions, and by Oliver, In 
his Historical Landmarks. 



31 AR 295 

pared, might assist in connecting the various bands of operatives, 
who, under the protection of the church — mystically united — ■ 
spread themselves over Europe during the Middle Ages, and arc- 
known as Freemasons."* Mr. Grodwin describes these marks, 
as varying in length from two to seven inches, and as formed by 
a single line, slightly indented, consisting chiefly of crosses, 
known masonic symbols, emblems of the Trinity and of eternity, 
the double triangle, trowel, square, &c. 

The same writer observes that, in a conversation, in September, 
1844, with a Mason at work on the Canterbury Cathedral, he 
" found that many Masons (all who were Freemasons) had their 
mystic marks handed down from generation to generation ; this 
man had his mark from his father, and he received it from his 
grandfather, "f 

MARSHAL. An officer common to several masonic bodies, 
whose duty is to regulate processions and other public solem- 
nities 

MARTINISM. A rite or modification of masonry, instituted 
at Lyons, in France, towards the end of the last century, by the 
Marquis de St. Martin. St. Martin was a disciple of Paschalis, 
the rite established by whom, in 1754, he attempted to reform, j 
The degrees in Martin's rite were ten, divided into two classes or 
temples. The first temple comprised the degrees of Apprentice, 
Fellow Craft, Master, Ancient Master, Elect, G-rand Architect, 

* The Travelling Freemasons, who are described in this work under that 
title. 

•j- 1 refer the masonic student, who desires still further to investigate this 
interesting subject, to the loth Lecture of Bro. Oliver's Historical Landmarks ; 
a work to which I have been deeply indebted in the course of my masonic 
studies. Godwin has also written learnedly on this topic, in various articles 
in the Archaeological Transactions, tho Builder, and other periodicals. One 
of his articles I have caused to be re-published in the Southern and Western 
Masonic Miscellany, vol. ii. No. 12. 

J See the word Paschalis, 



296 MAS 

and Master of the Secret. The degrees of the second temple 
were Prince of Jerusalem, Knight of Palestine, and Knight 
Kadosh. Martinism extended from Lyons into the principal 
cities of France, Germany, and even Russia.* 

MASON, DERIVATION OF. The etymology of the words 
mason and masonry have afforded masonic writers an ample op- 
portunity of exhibiting their research and ingenuity. Some have 
derived them from the Persian Magi, or disciples of Zoroaster; 
while Hutchinson offers the conjecture, that they are corrupted 
from the Greek MiMmqpiov, a mystery, and MuffTqq, one initiated 
into the ancient mysteries. He seems, too, to think that Mason 
may probably come from Mam Soov, I seek what is safe, and ma- 
sonry from Me<roupavea>, lam in the midst of heaven, or from the 
Hebrew Greek Ma%oupmd, one of the constellations of the zodiac. 
A writer in the European Magazine, for February, 1792, who 
signs himself George Drake, attributing to masonry a Druidical 
origin, derives Mason from what he calls may's on, or the men 
of May, on being men as in the French on Jit, and may's on are, 
therefore, the Druids, whose principal celebrations were in the 
month of May. Lastly, we may add, as a curious coincidence, 
at least, that the Hebrew PDO. massang or masan, signifies a stone 
quarry. All these suggestions, however, seem to me to be more fan- 
ciful than true j it is more probable that the word must be taken 
in its ordinary signification of a worker in stone, and thus it in- 
dicates the origin of the order from a society of practical artificers. 

MASONRY. Masonry is of two kinds, operative and spe- 
culative. Operative masonry is engaged in the construction of 
material edifices, by means of stone and marble; speculative ma- 
sonry is occupied in the erection of a spiritual temple, by means 
of symbolic instruction. The latter, which is also called Free 
masonry, adopts and symbolizes, for its sacred purpose, the in,. 



Clavel, Hist. Pitt., p. 170. 



MAS 297 

pigments and materials which are used in the former. Hence 
operative masonry is an art, and speculative, a science; and while 
the objects of the one are profane and temporal, those of the other 
are sacred and eternal. 

MASON'S DAUGHTER. This is an androgynous degree, 
invented in the Western States, and given to Master Masons, 
their wives, and unmarried sisters and daughters. It refers to 
circumstances recorded in the xi. and xii. chapters of the Gospel 
of St. John. 

MASTER AD VITAM. Another name for the degree of 
Grand Master of all symbolic lodges, which see. 

MASTER, GRAND. .See Grand Master. 

MASTER IN ISRAEL. See Intendant of the Building. 

MASTER MASON. The third degree in all the different 
rites. In this, which is the perfection of symbolic or ancient 
craft masonry, the purest of truths are unveiled amid the most 
awful ceremonies. None but he who has visited the holy of 
holies, and travelled the road of peril, can have any conception 
of the mysteries unfolded in this degree. Its solemn observances 
diffuse a sacred awe, and inculcate a lesson of religious truth — 
and it is not until the neophyte has reached this summit of our 
ritual, that he can exclaim with joyful accents, in the language 
of the sage of old, "Eureka, Eureka" I have found at last the 
long-sought treasure. In the language of the learned and zealous 
Hutchinson, somewhat enlarged in its allusion, "the Master Mason 
represents a man under the doctrine of love, saved from the grave 
of iniquity, and raised to the faith of salvation. It testifies our 
faith in the resurrection of the body, and, while it inculcates a 
practical lesson of prudence and unshrinking fidelity, it inspires 



298 MAS 

the most cheering hope of that final reward which belongs alone 
to the "just made perfect. ,, 

This was the last and highest of the three degrees in existence 
at the construction of the first temple, and it is, therefore, called 
u the perfection of ancient craft masonry." From the sublimity 
of the truths developed in it, and from the solemn nature of the 
ceremonies, it has received the appellation of the " sublime de- 
gree. " From this degree alone can the officers of a lodge be 
chosen ; and, though Fellow Crafts are permitted to speak, the 
privilege of voting is confined to Master Masons. 

MASTER OF A LODGE. The presiding officer, in a blue 
or symbolic lodge, is called " the Worshipful Master." In the 
French lodges, he is styled " Le Venerable" when the lodge is 
opened in the first or second degree, and " Le tres Venerable" 
when in the third. The power of a Master in his lodge is absolute. 
He is the supreme arbiter of all questions of order, so far as the 
meeting is concerned, nor can any appeal be made from his de- 
cision to that of the lodge. He is amenable for his conduct to 
the Grand Lodge alone, and to that body must every complaint 
against him be made. For no misdemeanor, however great, can 
he be tried by his lodge, for, as no one has a right to preside there 
in his presence except himself, it would be absurd to suppose that 
he could sit as the judge in his own case. This is the decision 
that has been made on the subject by every Grand Lodge in the 
United States which has entertained the question, and it may be 
now considered as a settled law of masonry. He is elected an- 
nually, but must have previously presided as a Warden, except 
in the case of a newly constituted lodge, or where every Past Mas- 
ter and Warden, as well as the present Master, have refused to 
serve, or have died, resigned, or been expelled. He is, with his 
Wardens, the representative of his lodge in the Grand Lodge, 
and is there bound to speak, act, or vote, as the lodge shall, by 
resolution, direct him. The right of instruction forms a part of 
our ancient regulations. He is to be treated with the utmost re- 



MAS 299 

rerence and respect while in the chair, and his commands must 
be implicitly obeyed. The ancient charges on this subject are ex- 
plicit. "You are not to hold private committees, or separate con- 
versation, without leave from the Master, nor to talk of any thing 
impertinent or unseemly, nor interrupt the Master; * * * * * but 
to pay due reverence to your Master, Wardens and Fellows, and 
put them to worship." — Ancient Charges, § vi. 1. 

The jewels and furniture of the lodge are placed under the 
care of the Master, he being responsible to the lodge for their 
safe custody. It is his duty to see that the landmarks of the 
order be not infringed, that the regulations of the Grand Lodge 
and the by-laws of his own lodge be strictly enforced, that all his 
officers faithfully perform their duties, and that no ineligible can- 
didate be admitted. He has the right of congregating his lodge 
whenever he thinks proper, and of closing it at any time that in 
his judgment may seem best. 

With respect to the removal of the lodge, the Master possesses 
peculiar privileges according to the regulations of the Grand 
Lodge of England, adopted in 1735. By these no motion for 
removal of the lodge can be made during the absence of the Mas- 
ter. But this is a merely local regulation, and does not appear, 
generally, to have been adopted by the fraternity in America. 

Lastly, the Master has particularly the charge of the warrant 
of constitution, and is empowered to select his Senior Deacon from 
among the Master Masons of the lodge. 

The jewel of the Master is a square; because, as the square is 
employed by operative Masons to fit and adjust the stones of a 
building, so that all the parts shall properly agree, so the Master 
of the lodge is admonished, by the symbolic meaning of the 
cquare upon his breast, to preserve that moral deportment among 
the members, which should ever characterize good Masons, so 
that no ill-feeling or angry discussions may arise to impair the 
harmony of the meeting. 

I cannot better close this article than with the following ex- 
tract from the writings of Dr. Oliver, in relation to the qualifi- 



300 MAS 

cations of a Master of a lodge. " I am decidedly of opinion that 
much general knowledge is necessary to expand the mind, and 
familiarize it with masonic discussions and illustrations, before a 
brother can be pronounced competent to undertake tbe arduous 
duty of governing a lodge. A Master of the work ought to 
have nothing to learn. He should be fully qualified, not only to 
instruct the younger brethren, but to resolve- the doubts of those 
who are more advanced in masonic knowledge ', to reconcile ap- 
parent contradictions; to settle chronologies, and to elucidate 
obscure facts or mystic legends, as well as to answer the objec- 
tions and to render pointless the ridicule of our uninitiated ad- 
versaries."* 

MASTER OF CAVALRY. An officer in a Council of 
Knights of the Red Cross, whose duties are, in some respects, 
similar to those of a Junior Deacon in a symbolic lodge. 

MASTER OF CEREMONIES. An officer found in many 
of the lodges of England, and in all of those of the Continent. 
His duties are principally those of a conductor of the candidate. 
The office is not recognised in the York ritual as practised in 
this country, though I think it is to be found in some of the 
lodges of New York, and perhaps occasionally elsewhere. 

MASTER OF DISPATCHES. The Secretary of a Council 
of Knights of the Red Cross. 

MASTER OF FINANCES. The Treasurer of a Council of 
Knights of the Red Cross. 

MASTER OF INFANTRY. An officer in a Council of 
Knigdits of the Red Cross, whose duties are, in some respects, 
similar to those of a Senior Deacon in a symbolic lodge. 



* Hist, of Initiation, Pref., p. x. 



MAS— MEN 301 

MASTER OF THE PALACE. An officer in a Council 
of Knights of the Red Cross, whose duties are peculiar to the 
degree. 

MEDITERRANEAN PASS. A side degree, sometimes 
conferred in this country on Royal Arch Masons. It has no 
lecture or legend 

MEETINGS OF A LODGE. The meetings of lodges are 
regular, and extra or emergent. Regular meetings are held 
under the provision of the by-laws, but extra meetings are called 
by the order of the Worshipful Master. It is one of the ancient 
laws, that no extra meeting can alter, amend, or expunge the 
proceedings of a regular meeting. The meetings of lodges are 
termed " communications," and this word should always be used 
in the minutes, summonses, and other masonic documents. 

MELCHISEDEK. King of Salem, and a Priest of the Most 
High God, of whom all that we know is to be found in the pas- 
sages of Scripture read at the conferring of the degree of High 
Priesthood. Some theologians have supposed him to have been 
Shem, the son of Noah. 

MELITA. The ancient name of the island of Malta. 

MEMPHIS, RITE OF. A Masonic rite, established at 
Paris, in 1839, by J. A. Marconis and E. N. Mouttet. It after- 
wards extended to Brussels and Marseilles. It was composed of 
ninety-one degrees, and is said to have been a modification of the 
rite of Misriam. Its existence has been ephemeral, for it is now 
extinct, or practised without legal authority. 

MENATZCH1M. The overseers at the building of the 
Temple, amounting to 3300. See 1 Kings v. 15, and 2 Chron 
ii. 18. 

20 



302 MID- -MIS 

MIDDLE CHAMBER. The middle chamber is thus de- 
scribed in the 1st book of Kings. "And against the wall of the 
house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the 
house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle : and 
he made chambers round about : the nethermost chamber was 
five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the 
third was seven cubits broad : for without in the wall of the 
house he made narrowed rests round about, that the beams 
should not be fastened in the walls of the house. The door for 
the middle chamber was in the right side of the house : and 
they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and 
out of the middle into the third." — 1 Kings, vi. 5, 6, 8. 

These chambers, after the temple was completed, served for 
the accommodation of the priests when upon duty; in them they 
deposited their vestments and the sacred vessels. But the 
knowledge of the purpose to which the middle chamber was 
appropriated, while the temple was in the course of construction, 
is only preserved in masonic tradition. 

MINUTES. The minutes of the proceedings of the lodge 
should always be read just before closing, that any alterations 
or amendments may be proposed by the brethren; and again 
immediately after opening at the next communication, that they 
may be confirmed. But the minutes of a regular communica- 
tion are not to be read at a succeeding extra one, because, as the 
proceedings of a regular communication cannot be discussed at 
an extra, it would be unnecessary to read them ; for, if incorrect, 
they could not be amended until the next regular communi- 
cation. 

MISBAIM, BITE OF. This rite was composed, in 1805,=* 



* Oliver says it was founded in 1782, but I think be confounds tbe Egyp- 
tian masonry, of Cagliostro, with the rite of Misriam. Clavel is my authority 
for the date. 



MIS 303 

Dy several Masons who had been refused admission into the 
Supreme Council of the Scotch rite, which had been organized 
during that year, at Milan. In 1814, it was established in 
France, and, in the following year, the lodge of " Arc-en-cieF' 
was constituted at Paris. Unsuccessful attempts were made to 
extend this rite, during the succeeding years, to Belgium, Swe- 
den, and Switzerland ; and, in 1820, it was carried over to Ire- 
land, where it is said still to exist, but in a languishing condi- 
tion. At present but three lodges at Paris acknowledge this 
rite, whose " Puissance Supreme," or centre of government, is 
placed in that city. The Grand Orient of France has never 
recognised this rite as a part of masonry. The rite of Misriam, 
or, as it is sometimes called, the rite of Egypt, consists of 90 
degrees, divided into 4 series and 17 classes. Some of these 
degrees are entirely original, but many of them are borrowed 
from the Scotch rite. 

For the gratification of the curious inspector, the following list 
of these degrees is subjoined. The titles are translated as lite- 
rally as possible from the French. 

I. Series — Symbolic. 
1st Class: 1, Apprentice; 2, Fellow Craft; 3, Master. 2d 
Class : 4, Secret Master ; 5, Perfect Master ; 6, Master through 
Curiosity; 7, Master in Israel; 8, English Master. 3d Class: 
9, Elect of Nine; 10, Elect of the Unknown; 11, Elect of 
Fifteen; 12, Perfect Elect; 13, Illustrious Elect. 4th Class: 
14, Scotch Trinitarian; 15, Scotch Fellow Craft; 16, Scotch 
Master; 17, Scotch panisiere; 18, Master of the Scottish rite; 
19, Elect of three ; Scotch Master of the sacred vault of James 
VI.; 21, Scotch Master of St. Andrew, bth Class: 22, Archi- 
tect; 23, Grand Architect; 24, Architecture; 25, Apprentice 
Perfect Architect; 26, Fellow Craft lerfect Architect; 27, 
Master Perfect Architect; 28, Perfect Architect; 29, Sublime 
Scotch Master; 30, Sublime Scotch Master of Heroden. Qth 

26 



304 MIS 



Class: 31, Royal Arch; 32, Grand Axe; 33, Sublime Knight 
of Election, Chief of the 1st Series. 

II. Series — Philosophic. 
7 th Class : 34, Knight of the Sublime Election ; 35, Prus- 
sian Knight; 36, Knight of the Temple; 37, Knight of the 
Eagle ; 38, Knight of the Black Eagle ; 39, Knight of the Red 
Eagle ; 40, White Knight of the East ; 41, Knight of the East. 
8th Class: 42, Commander of the East; 43, Grand Commander 
of the East; 44, Architect of the Sovereign Commanders of the 
Temple ; 45, Prince of Jerusalem. 9th Class : 46, Sovereign 
Prince Rose Croix of Kilwinning and Heroden ; 47, Knight of 
the "West; 48, Sublime Philosophy; 49, Chaos the first, dis- 
creet; 50, Chaos the second, wise; 51, Knight of the Sua. 10^A 
Class: 52, Supreme Commander of the Stars; 53, Sublime 
Philosopher; 54, First degree of the Key of Masonry, Minor; 
55, Second degree, Washer; 56, Third degree, Bellows-blower; 
57, Fourth degree, Caster ; 58, Freemason Adept ; 59, Sovereign 
Elect ; 60, Sovereign of Sovereigns ; 61, Master of Lodges ; 62, 
Most High and Most Powerful; 63, Knight of Palestine; 64, 

Knight of the White Eagle ; 65, Grand Elect Knight K H; 

66, Grand Inquiring Commander, Chief of the 2d Series. 

III. Series — Mystical. 
11th Class: 67, Benevolent Knight; 68, Knight of the 
Rainbow ; 69, Knight of B. or Hhanuka, called Hynaroth ; 70, 
Most wise Israelitish prince ; 12th Class : 71, Sovereign Prince 
Talmudim ; 72, Sovereign Prince Zadkim ; 73, Grand Haram. 
13th Class: 74, Sovereign Grand Prince Haram; 75, Sove- 
reign Prince Hassidim. lfah Class: 76, Sovereign Grand 
Prince Hasiclim ; 77, Grand Inspector Intendant, Regulator-Gene- 
ral of the Order, .Chief of the 3d Series. 

IV. Series — Cabalistic. 
lbth and 16*7* Classes : 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 
degrees whose names are concealed from all but the possessors. 
17th Class: 87, Sovereign Grand Princes, constituted Grand 



MIT 305 

Masters, and legitimate representatives of the order for the First 
Series ; 88, Ditto for the Second Series ; 89, Ditto for the Third 
Series; 90, Absolute Sovereign Grand Master, Supreme Power 
of the Order, and Chief of the 4th Series. 

The chiefs of this rite claim the privilege, which, of course, 
has never been conceded to them, of directing and controlling all 
the other rites of Freemasonry, as their common source. From 
an examination of a part of its ritual, and the perusal of some 
of its official publications, I am inclined to believe the assertion 
of its friends, who claim for it an eminently philosophical cha- 
racter. The organization of the rite is, however, too complicated 
and diffuse to have ever been practically convenient. Many of 
its degrees were founded upon, or borrowed from, the Egyptian 
rites, and its ritual is said to be a very close imitation of the 
ancient system of initiation. 

The legend of the third degree in this rite is abolished. 
HAB is said to have returned to his family, after the completion 
of the Temple, and to have passed the remainder of his days in 
peace and opulence. The legend, substituted by the rite of 
Misraim for that admitted by all the other rites, is carried back 
to the days of Lamech, whose son Jubal, under the name of 
Hario-Jubal-Abi, is reported to have been slain by three traitors, 
Hagava, Hakina, and Haremda.* 

MITHRAS, MYSTERIES OF. The mysteries of Mithras 
were celebrated in Persia. They were instituted by Zeradusht, 
or Zoroaster, an Eastern sage, concerning whose era the learned 
are unable to agree, some placing it in the reign of Darius Hvs. 
taspes, and others contending that he lived centuries before the 
reign of that monarch. Zoroaster reformed the doctrines of the 
Magi, and established a theology which was adopted as the reli- 
gion of the Persians, Chaldeans, Parthians, Medes, and other 

* See a singular work, published in 1S35, at Paris, by Marc Bedarride, one 

of the chiefs of the rite, under the title of " De VOrdre Maconnique de Mi*- 

raim," pp. 25 and 118. 

2G* 



306 MIT 

neighbouring nations. According to the Zend Avesta, the sa- 
cred book in which these doctrines are contained, the Supreme 
Being, whose name signifies "Time without bounds/' created 
Light in the beginning; out of this light proceeded Ormuzd, or 
the principle of light, who, by his omnific word, created the 
world. He produced also the superior genii, Amshaspands, who 
surround his throne, as the messengers of his will, and the infe- 
rior genii, Izeds, who are the guardian angels of the world, and 
whose chief is Mithras. The Supreme Being also created Ahri- 
man, the principle of darkness, and the Dives, or evil genii 
under him. These are incessantly at war with Ormuzd, endea- 
vouring to corrupt the virtue and destroy the happiness of the 
human race. But their efforts, the Zend Avesta declares, are 
vain; for, assisted by the Izeds, the triumph of the good prin- 
ciple has been resolved in the secret decrees of the Supreme 
Being. 

Mithras resided in the sun, and hence that luminary was wor- 
shipped as the abode of the God of Light. He was represented 
as a young man covered with a Phrygian turban, and clothed in 
a mantle and tunic. He presses with his knee upon a bull, one 
of whose horns he holds in his right hand, while with the right 
he plunges a dagger into his neck. This was an evident allusion 
to the power of the sun when he is in the zodiacal sign of Taurus. 
In Persia, the mysteries of Mithras were celebrated at the winter 
solstice; in Rome, where they were introduced in the time of 
Pompey, at the vernal equinox. 

They were divided into seven degrees, and the initiation con- 
sisted of the most rigorous trials, sometimes even terminating in 
the death of the aspirant. No one, says Gregory Nazianzeu, 
could be initiated into the mysteries of Mithras, unless he had 
passed through all the trials, and proved himself passionless and 
pure.* The aspirant at first underwent the purifications by 



* Orat. Cont. Julian. Appropriately does be call these trial? Koyaotis, or 
puniahmenra. 



MIT 307 

Water, by fire, and by fasting; after which be was introduced into 
a cavern representing the world, on whose walls and roof were 
inscribed the celestial signs.")" Here he submitted to a species 
of baptism, and received a mark on his forehead. He was pre- 
sented with a crown on the point of a sword, which he was to 
refuse, declaring at the same time, " Mithras alone is my 
crown." He was prepared, by anointing him with oil, crowning 
him with olive, and clothing him in enchanted armour, for the 
seven stages of initiation through which he was about to pass. 
These commenced in the following manner : In the first cavern 
he heard the howling of wild beasts, and was enveloped in total 
darkness, except when the cave was illuminated by the fitful 
glare of terrific flashes of lightning. He was hurried to the 
spot whence the sounds proceeded, and was suddenly thrust by 
his silent guide through a door into a den of wild beasts, where 
he was attacked by the initiated in the disguise of lions, tigers, 
hyenas, and other ravenous beasts. Hurried through this apart- 
ment, in the second cavern he was again shrouded in darkness, 
and for a time in fearful silence, until it was broken by awful 
peals of thunder, whose repeated reverberations shook the very 
walls of the cavern, and could not fail to inspire the aspirant 
with terror. He was conducted through four other caverns, in 
which the methods of exciting astonishment and fear were inge- 
niously varied. He was made to swim over a raging flood j was 
subjected to a rigorous fast; exposed to all the horrors of a 
dreary desert ; and finally, if we may trust the authority of Ni- 
csetas, after being severely beaten with rods, was buried for many 
days up to the neck in snow. In the seventh cavern or Sacellum, 
the darkness was changed to light, and the candidate was intro- 
duced into the presence of the Archimagus, or chief priest, 
seated on a splendid throne, and surrounded by the assistaut dis- 
pensers of the mysteries. Here the obligation of secrecy was 

■j According to Tertullian, his entrance was opposed by a drawn sword, 
from which, in the obstinacy of his perseverance, he often received more than 
one wound. 



308 MIT— MOD 

administered, and he was made acquainted witL the sacred 
words, among which the Tetractys or ineffable name of God was 
the principal. He received also the appropriate investiture,* and 
was instructed in the secret doctrines of the rites of Mithras, of 
which the history of the creation, already recited, formed a part, 
The mysteries of Mithras passed from Persia into Europe, and 
were introduced into Rome in the time of Pompey. Here they 
flourished with various success, until the year 378, when they 
were prescribed by a decree of the Senate, and the sacred cave, 
iu which they had been celebrated, was destroyed by the Preto- 
rian prefect. 

MITRE. One of the vestments of the High Priest of a 
Royal Arch Chapter. See Hijh Priest of the Jews. 

MODERN MASONS. The terms, Ancient and Modern Ma- 
sons, are no longer known to the craft as distinctive appellations 
of any classes of the fraternity ; but the time has not long past 
when the masonic world was convulsed by the controversies of 
the two bodies who assumed these titles. As an important part 
of the history of our order, it is therefore necessary that I should 
briefly relate the origin of the words, Modem and Ancient Ma- 
sons.^ 

In the commencement of the eighteenth century, the universal 
name by which the whole mystic family was known, was that of 

* This investiture consisted of the Kara or conical cap, and candy s or loose 
tunic of Mithras, on which was depicted the celestial constellations, the zone, 
or belt, containing a representation of the figures of the zodiac, the pastoral 
etafF or crozier, alluding to the influence of the sun in the labours of agricul- 
ture, and the golden serpent, which was placed in his bosom as an emblem of 
his having been regenerated and made a disciple of Mithras, because the ser. 
pent, by casting its shin annually, was considered in these mysteries as t 
symbol of regeneration. — See Maurices Indian Antiquities, vol. v., ch. 4. 

f The subject has already been alluded to in the article on Grand Lodgei 
and it is, therefore, unavoidable, that I should here be guilty of repetition foi 
the purposes of facility of reference, and to preserve the continuity of tin 
narrative. 



MOD 309 

" Free and Accepted Masons." At that period there were in 
England two Grand Lodges, the Grand Lodge of 'England, seated 
at London, and governing the southern part of the kingdom, and 
the Grand Lodge of all England, placed at York, and extending 
its jurisdiction over the northern counties. These bodies at first 
maintained a friendly intercourse, which was, however, at length 
interrupted by the officious interference of the Grand Lodge at 
London, in granting warrants to lodges under the jurisdiction of 
the Grand Lodge at York. At this time, in 1738, under the 
Grand Mastership of the Marquis of Carnarvon, some of the 
brethren, becoming dissatisfied with certain proceedings of the 
Grand Lodge of England, seceded from that body, and assumed, 
without authority, the title of York Masons. In the next year, 
Lord Raymond being Grand Master, the secessions continuing, 
the Grand Lodge of England attempted to check the evil by 
passing votes of censure on the most refractory, and by enacting 
laws to discourage these irregular associations. In consequence 
of these measures, the sececlers immediately declared themselves 
independent, and assumed the appellation of Ancient Masons. 
They propagated an opinion, that the ancient tenets and usages 
of masonry were preserved by them, and that the regular lodges, 
being composed of Modern Masons, had adopted new plans, and 
were not to be considered as acting under the old establishment.* 
They, therefore, organized a Grand Lodge, the authority for 
which they professed to derive from the ancient body at York ; 
called themselves " Ancient York Masons;" and constituted 
several subordinate lodges. The brethren who still adhered to 
the Grand Lodge of England, continued to style themselves 
" Free and Accepted Masons," but were stigmatized by their 
opponents with the name of Moderns, the most opprobrious 
epithet that can be applied to a masonic body. The dissensions 
between these bodies were disseminated into foreign countries, 
where each body constituted lodges, and were continued in 

* Preston, Must, of Masonry, p. 1S9. 



310 MON 

England until the year 1813, when they were happLy united 
during the Grand Mastership of the Duke of Sussex. Before 
that period, in some countries, and shortly after it in others, the 
union had elsewhere taken place,* and the two terms of Ancient 
and Modern Masons now exist only in the records of the past. 

With respect to the real differences between these two bodies, 
they appear to have existed rather in name, than in fact. Der- 
mott, an Ancient Mason, with an illiberal desire of injuring the 
reputation of his opponents, asserts that " a very material diffe- 
rence exists between the Ancient and Modern Masons;" but 
Dalcho, who was also an Ancient York, but acquainted with 
both systems, declares that " the difference in point of import- 
ance, was no greater than it would be to dispute, whether the 
glove should be placed first iipon the right hand, or on the left" 
The question, however, is definitely settled by the report of the 
Committees of Conference of the two Grand Lodges of Ancient 
York, and Free and Accepted Masons, of South Carolina, who 
met for the purpose of mutually examining the work, prepara- 
tory to the confirmation of the articles of the Union, which took 
place between these bodies in 1817. On that occasion the joint 
committees reported, " That from the reciprocal examinations by 
the several committees already had in Grand Lodge, it doth ap- 
pear that there exists no difference in the mode of entering, pass- 
ing and raising, instructing, obligating, and clothing brothers, in 
the respective Grand Lodges." 

MONITOR. Those manuals, published for the convenience 
of lodges, and containing the charges, general regulations, em- 
blems, and account of the public ceremonies of the order, are 
called Monitors. The instruction in these works is said to be 
Monitorial, to distinguish it from esoteric instruction, which is 
not permitted to be written, and can be obtained only in the pre- 
cincts of the lodge. 

* They were united in Massachusetts as early as 1792, and in South Caro- 
lina in 1817. 



MON— MOP 311 

MONITOR, SECRET. See Secret Monitor. 

MOON. If the moon is found in our lodges bestowing her 
light upon the brethren, and instructing the Masier to imitate, 
in his government, the precision and regularity with which she 
presides over the night, we shall find her also holding a conspicu- 
ous place in the worship of the first seceders from the true spirit 
of Freemasonry. In Egypt, Osiris was the sun, and Isis the 
moon ; in Syria, Adonis was the sun, and Ashtoroth the moon ; 
the Greeks adored her as Diana, and Hecate; in the mysteries 
of Ceres, while the hierophant or chief priest represented the 
Creator, and the torch bearer the sun, the ho epi homos, or officer 
nearest the altar, represented the moon. In short, moon-worship 
was as widely disseminated as sun-worship. Masons retain her 
image in their rites, because the lodge is a representation of the 
universe, where as the sun rules over the day, the moon presides 
over the night • as the one regulates the year, so does the other 
the months, and as the former is the king of the starry hosts of 
heaven, so is the latter their queen ; but both deriving their 
heat, and light, and power from him, who, as a third and the 
greatest light, the master of heaven and earth, controls them 
both. 

MOPSES. In 1738 Pope Clement XII. had issued a Bull, 
condemning and forbidding the practice of the rites of Free- 
masonry. Several brethren in the Catholic States of Germany, 
unwilling to renounce the order, and yet fearful of offending the 
ecclesiastical authority, formed in 1740, under the name of 
Mopses, what was pretended to be a new association, devoted to 
the papal hierarchy, but which was in truth nothing else than 
Freemasonry under a less offensive appellation. It was patron- 
ized by the most illustrious persons of Germany, and many 
Princes of the Empire were its Grand Masters. The title is 
derived from the German word mops, signifying a young mastiff, 
and was indicative of the mutua' fidelity and attachment of 



312 MOR 

the brethren, these virtues being characteristic of that noble 
animal. 

In 1776, the Mopses became an androgynous order, and ad- 
mitted females to all the offices, except that of Grand Master, 
which was held for life. There was, however, a Grand Mistress, 
and the male and female heads of the order alternately assumed, 
for six months each, the supreme authority. 

MORALITY OF FREEMASONRY. No one who reads 
our ancient charges can fail to see that Freemasonry is a strictly 
moral institution, and that the principles which it inculcates in- 
evitably tend to make the brother, who obeys their dictates, a 
more virtuous mac. What this morality is, has been so well de- 
fined in a late address before one of our Grand Lodges, that 
nothing I could say would add strength to the sentiment, or 
beauty to the language. 

" The morality of masonry requires us to deal justly with 
others; not to defraud, cheat, or wrong them of their just dues 
and rights. But it goes farther; regarding all as the children 
of one great father, it regards man as bound by piety, masonic 
morality, and fraternal bonds, to minister to the wants of the 
destitute and afflicted; and that we may be enabled to fulfil this 
high behest of humanity, it strictly enjoins industry and fru- 
gality, that so our hands may ever be filled with the means of 
exercising that charity to which our hearts should ever dis- 
pose us."* 

MORIAH, MOUNT. A hill on the north-east side of Jeru- 
salem, once separated from the hill of Acra, by a valley, which 
was filled up by the Asmoneans, and the two hills converted into 
one. In the time of David, it stood apart from the city and was 
under cultivation, for here was the threshing floor of Oman the 



* Address before the Grand Lodge of Kentuck v, by Rev. M. M, Henkle, 
G. 0. 1844. 



MOS 313 

Jcbusite, which David bought for the purpose of erecting on it 
an altar to Grod. Here also Abraham is supposed to have been 
directed to offer up his son Isaac. On Mount Moriah, Solomon 
afterwards erected the Temple, when it was included within the 
walls of the city. Mount Gihon, the Hill of Gareb, and espe- 
cially Mount Calvary, are to the westward of Mount Moriah. 

Mount Moriah is represented by the ground floor of the lodge, 
and on it the three grand offerings of masonry were made. See 
Ground Floor of the Lodge. 

MOSAIC PAVEMENT. Mosaic work consists of innumer- 
able little stones, of different colours, closely united together, so 
as to imitate a painting. The floor of the tabernacle, and the 
pavement of Solomon's temple, are said to have bee a thus con- 
structed.* The Mosaic pavement, in imitation of this pave- 
ment of the temple, is an ornament of the lodge, and is illus- 
trated in the Entered Apprentice's degree. It is surrounded by 
a richly inlaid or tessellated border, commonly called the in- 
dented tessel, and has in its centre a blazing star. The variety 
of colours in the pavement, is a fit emblem of human life, a 
mingled scene of virtue and vice, of happiness and misery ; to- 
day " our feet tread in prosperity, to-morrow we totter on the 
uneven paths of weakness, temptation, and adversity ;" the 
tessellated border, rich in the adornments of figure and colour, 
represents the many blessings which surround us, and of which 
not even the most lowly are entirely destitute ; while the blazing 
star, like that bright meteor which of old directed the steps of 
the wise men of the East, still points to that eternal source from 
which each blessing flows 

MOST EXCELLENT. The style given to a Royal Arch 
Chapter, and to its presiding officer, the High Priest. 



* The term Mosaic is supposed to have been derived from the fact that Mi sea 
thus constructed the floor of the tabernacle. Mosaic or tesselated pavements 
were very commou among the ancients. 

27 



314 MOS— MYS 

MOST EXCELLENT MASTER. The O.h degree in the 
American rite. Its history refers to the dedication of the Temple 
by King Solomon, who is represented by its presiding officer, 
under the title of Most Excellent. Its officers are the same as 
those in a symbolic lodge. 

MOST WORSHIPFUL. The style given to a Grand Lodge, 
and to its presiding officer, the Grand Master. 

MUSIC. One of the seven liberal arts and sciences, whose 
beauties are inculcated in the Fellow Craft's degree. Music is 
recommended to the attention of Masons, because as the " con- 
cord of sweet sounds" elevates the generous sentiments of the 
soul, so should the concord of good feeling reign among the 
brethren, that by the union of friendship and brotherly love, the 
boisterous passions may be lulled, and harmony exist throughout 
the craft. 

MUSTARD SEED, ORDER OF. Ordre de la graine de 

Seneve. This association, whose members also called themselves 
" The fraternity of Moravian Brothers of the order of Religious 
Freemasons," was one of the first innovations introduced into 
German Freemasonry. It was instituted in the year 1739. Its 
mysteries were founded on that passage in the 4th chapter of St. 
Mark's gospel, in which Christ compares the kingdom of heaven 
to a mustard seed. The brethren wore a ring, on which was in- 
scribed, " No one of us lives for himself." The jewel of the 
order was a cross of gold, surmounted by a Mustard plant, with 
the words, " What was it before ? Nothing." This was sus- 
pended from a green ribbon. 

MYSTAGOGUE. The one who presided at the Ancient 
Mysteries, and explained the sacred things to the candidate. He 
was also called the hierophant. 



MYS 315 

MYSTERIES. This is the name given to those religious 
assemblies of the ancients, whose ceremonies were conducted in 
secret, whose doctrines were known only to those who had ob- 
tained the right of knowledge by a previous initiation, and whose 
members were in possession of signs and tokens by which they 
were enabled to recognise each other.* For the origin of these 
mysteries we must look to the Gymnosophists of India, from 
whom they passed through Egpyt into Greece and Rome, and 
from whom likewise they were extended, in a more immediate 
line, to the northern part of Europe and to Britain. The most 
important of these mysteries were those of Mithras, celebrated 
in Persia ; of Osiris and Isis, celebrated in Egypt ; of Eleusis, 
instituted in Greece ; and the Scandinavian and Druidical rites, 
which were confined to the Gothic and Celtic tribes. In all these 
various mysteries, we find a singular unity of design clearly in- 
dicating a common origin, and a purity of doctrine as evidently 
proving that this common origin was not to be sought for in the 
popular theology of the Pagan world. The ceremonies of initia- 
tion were all funereal in their character. They celebrated the 
death and the resurrection of some cherished being, either the 
object of esteem as a hero, or of devotion as a god. Subordina- 
tion of degrees was instituted, and the candidate was subjected 
to probations varying in their character and severity; the rites 
were practised in the darkness of night, and often amid the 
gloom of impenetrable forests or subterranean caverns; and the 
full fruition of knowledge, for which so much labour was endured, 
and so much danger incurred, was not attained until the aspirant, 
well tried and thoroughly purified, had reached the place of wis- 
dom and of light. 

These mysteries undoubtedly owed their origin to the desire 

* Warburton's definition of the Mysteries is as follows : " Each of the pagan 
gods had (besides the pu b lie and open) a secret icorship paid unto him; to 
which none were admitted but those who had been selected by preparatory cere- 
monies, called INITIATION. This secret worship was 'ermed the MYSTE- 
RIES."— Divine Legation, Vol. 1, B. ii. $ 4, p. 189. 



316 MYS 

on the part of the priests of establishing an esoteric philosophy. 
in which should be taught the sublime truths which they had 
derived, (though they themselves at length forgot the source,) 
from the instruction of God himself through the ancient patri- 
archs. By this confinement of these doctrines to a system of 
secret knowledge, guarded by the most rigid rites, could they 
only expect to preserve them from the superstitions, innovations, 
and corruptions of the world as it then existed. " The distin- 
guished few," says Oliver, "who retained their fidelity, uncon- 
taminated by the contagion of evil example, would soon be able 
to estimate the superior benefits of an isolated institution, which 
afforded the advantage of a select society, and kept at an unap- 
proachable distance the profane scoffer, whose presence might 
pollute their pure devotions and social converse, by contumelious 
language or unholy mirth."* And doubtless the prevention of 
this intrusion, and the preservation of these sublime truths, was 
the original object of the institution of the ceremonies of initia- 
tion, and the adoption of other means by which the initiated 
could be recognised, and the uninitiated excluded. Such was 
the opinion of "Warburton, who says that " the mysteries were at 
first the retreats of sense and virtue, till time corrupted them in 
most of the gods."f 

The A.bbe Robin, in a learned work J on this subject, places 
the origin of the initiations at that remote period when crimes first 
began to appear upon earth. The vicious, he remarks, were urged 
by the terror of guilt to seek among the virtuous for intercessors 
with the deity. The latter, retiring into solitude to avoid the 
contagion of growing corruption, devoted themselves to a life 
of contemplation and the cultivation of several of the useful 
sciences. The periodical return of the seasons, the revolution of 
the stars, the productions of the earth, and the various phenomena 
of nature, studied with attention, rendered them useful guides to 



* History of Initiation, p. 2. f Spence's Anecdotes, p. 309. 

"J; Recherches sur les Initiations Anciennes ct Modernes. Paris. 1780. 



MYS 317 

men. both in their pursuits of industry and in their social duties 
These recluse students invented certain signs to recall to the re- 
membrance of the people the times of their festivals and of their 
rural labours, and hence the origin of the symbols and hierogly- 
phics that were in use among the priests of all nations. Having 
now become guides and leaders of the people, these sages, in order 
to select as associates of their learned labours and sacred functions 
only such as had sufficient merit and capacity, appointed strict 
courses of trial and examination, and this, our author thinks, must 
have been the source of the initiations of antiquity. The Magi, 
Brahmins, Gryninosophists, Druids, and priests of Egypt, lived 
thus in sequestered habitations and subterranean caves, and obtained 
great reputation by their discoveries in astronomy, chemistry and 
mechanics, by their purity of morals, and by their knowledge of 
the science of legislation. It was in these schools, says 31. Robin, 
that the first sages and legislators of antiquity were formed, and 
in them he supposes the doctrines taught to have been the unity of 
Grod and the immortality of the soul; and it was from these mys- 
teries, and their symbols and hieroglyphics, that the exuberant 
fancy of the Greeks drew much of their mythology.* 

The candidates for initiation were not only expected to be of a 
clear and unblemished character, and free from crime, but their 
future conduct was required to be characterized by the same 
purity and innocence. They were, therefore, obliged, by solemn 
engagements, to commence a new life of piety and virtue, upon 
which they entered by a severe course of penance. f 

The mysteries were held in the highest respect, by both the 
government and the people. It was believed that he who was 
initiated would not only enjoy an increased share cf virtue and 
happiness in this world, but would be entitled to celestial honours 
in the next. "Thrice happy they/' says Sophocles, " who de- 

* I give these ingenious speculations of the Abbe Robin, although 1 dissent 
from much of his doctrine, because they add another item to the history of the 
theories on this interesting subject. 

f "^ arburton, Divine Legation, B. ii., Sect. 4. 



318 MYS 

fcended to the shades below after having beheld these rites j foi 
they alone have life in Hades, while all others suffer there every 
kind of evil." And Isocrates declares that "those who have been 
initiated in the mysteries, entertain better hopes, both as to the 
end of life and the whole of futurity/' 

The ancient historians relate many circumstances in illustration 
of the sanctity in which the mysteries were held. Livy tell us 
the following story : Two Acarnanian youths who had not been 
initiated, accidentally entered the temple of Ceres, during the days 
of the mysteries. They were soon detected by their absurd ques- 
tions, and being carried to the managers of the temple, though it 
was evident that they had come there by mistake, they were put 
to death for so horrible a crime.* 

Plutarch records the fact that Alcibiades was indicted for sacri- 
lege, because he imitiated the mysteries of Eleusis and exhibited 
them to his companions in the same dress in which the hierophant 
showed the sacred things, and called himself the hierophant, one 
of his companions the torch bearer, and the other the herald. "j* 

Lobeck, one of the most learned writers on this subject, has col- 
lected several examples of the reluctance with which the ancients 
approached a mystical subject, and the manner in which they 
shrunk from divulging any explanation or fable which had been 
related to them at the mysteries. £ 

To divulge them was considered a sacrilegious crime, the pre- 
scribed punishment for which was immediate death. I would no*, 
says Horace, dwell beneath the same roof, nor trust myself in the 
same frail bark, with the man who has betrayed the secrets of tha 
Eleusinian rites. § 

* Liv. Hist. xx.i. 14. f Plut. Alcibiad. 22. 

J Lobeck's Aglaophamus, vol. i. app. 131, 151 ; vol. ii. p. 1287. 
$ Vetaoo, qui Cereris sacrum 
Vulgarit arcanse, sub iisclein 

Sit trabibus, fragilemque mccura 
Solvat phaselum. 

[Carm. iii. 3, 26. 



MYS 319 

On the subject of their relation to the rites of Freemasonry, to 
which they bear in many respects so remarkable a resemblance, 
that some connection seems necessarily implied, there are two 
principal theories. The one, is that embraced and taught by Dr. 
Oliver, namely, that they are but deviations from that common 
source, both of them and of Freemasonry, the patriarchal mode 
of worship established by God himself. With this pure system 
of truth, he supposes the science of Freemasonry to have been 
coeval and identified. But the truths thus revealed by divinity, 
came at length to be doubted or rejected through the imperfection 
of human reason, and though the visible symbols were retained 
in the mysteries of the Pagan world, their true interpretation 
was lost.* 

That the instruction communicated in the mysteries of Paganism 
were an impure derivation from the sublime truths of the pa- 
triarchal theology, I have no hesitation in believing. But that 
they were an emanation from Freemasonry, as we now understand 
the terms, I am not yet prepared to admit, notwithstanding the 
deep veneration in which I hold the learning of Dr. Oliver. I 
prefer, therefore, the second theory, which, leaving the origin of 
the mysteries to be sought in the patriarchal doctrines, where 
Oliver has placed it, finds the connection between them and Free- 
masonry commencing at the building of King Solomon's Temple. 
Over the construction of this building, Hiram, the Architect of 
Tyre, presided. At Tyre the mysteries of Bacchus had been intro- 
duced by the Dionysian Artificers, and into their fraternity Hiram, 
in all probability, had, as I have already suggested, been admitted, j" 
Freemasonry, whose tenets had always existed in purity among 
the immediate descendants of the patriarchs, added now to its doc- 
trines the guard of secrecy, which, as Dr. Oliver himself remarks, 
was necessary to preserve them from perversion or pollution. f 

This, then, it seems to me, is the true connection between the 



* Signs and Symbols, p. 217. 

f See Antiquity of Masonry, and Hiram the Builder, in this work. 

X Hist, of Initiation, p. 2. 



320 MYS 

mysteries and speculative Freemasonry. They bc-tt emanated 
from one common source, but the former soon losing much of 
their original purity, were compelled, in order to preserve the little 
that was left, to have recourse to the invention of ceremonies and 
modes of recognition, and a secret doctrine, by means of which 
all but a select and worthy few were excluded. These ceremonies, 
and especially this symbolic or secret mode of communicating in 
struction, so admirable in themselves, were afterwards adopted by 
the Freemasons, who had retained the ancient tenets in their 
original purity, but they divested them of their heathen allusions, 
and adapted them to the divine system which they had preserved 
unimpaired. 

A third theory has been advanced by the Abbe Robin, in 
which he connects Freemasonry indirectly with the mysteries, 
through the intervention of the Crusaders. In the work already 
cited, he attempts to deduce from the ancient initiations, the or- 
ders of Chivalry, whose branches, he says, produced the institu- 
tion of Freemasonry. But this theory is utterly untenable and 
inconsistent with the facts of history, since Freemasonry pre- 
ceded, instead of following, the institution of Chivalry, as I have 
elsewhere shown, and could not, therefore, have been indebted to 
this system for its primal organization. 

These mysteries, so important from their connection with 
Freemasonry, deserve a still further examination of their origin 
and design. 

Faber, who sought an Arkite origin for every thing, says that 
" the initiations into the mysteries scientifically represented the 
mythic descent into Hades and the return from thence to the 
light of day, by which was meant the entrance into the ark and 
the subsequent liberation from its dark enclosure. They all 
equally related to the allegorical disappearance, or death, or de- 
scent of the great father, at their commencen ent ; and to his in- 
vention, or revival, or return from Hades, at their conclusion. "* 

* Origin of Pagan Idolatry, vol. ii., b. iv., ch. v., p 384. 



MYS 32 L 

" They were," says Warburton, " a school of morality and re- 
ligion, in which the vanity of polytheism and the unity of the 
First Cause were revealed to the initiated. "~j" This opinion of 
the learned Bishop of Gloucester is not gratuitous; it is sup- 
ported by the concurrent testimony of the ancient writers. " All 
the mysteries," says Plutarch, "refer to a future life and to the 
state of the soul after death. "J In another place, addressing 
his wife, he says, " we have been instructed in the religious rites 
of Dionysus, that the soul is immortal, and that there is a future 
state of existenee. ;, § Cicero tells us, that in the mysteries of 
Ceres at Eleusis, the initiated were taught to live happily and to 
die in the hope of a blessed futurity. || And, finally, Plato in- 
forms us, that the hymns of Musseus, which were sung in the 
mysteries, celebrated the rewards and pleasures of the virtuous 
in another life, and the punishments which awaited the wicked. ^[ 

These sentiments, so different from the debased polytheism 
which prevailed among the unitiated, are the most certain evi- 
dence that the mysteries arose from a purer source than that 
which gave birth to the religion of the vulgar. That purer 
source was the common original of them and of Freemasonry. 

I conclude with a notice of their ultimate fate. They conti- 
nued to flourish until long after the Christian era. But they, at 
length, degenerated. In the fourth century, Christianity had 
begun to triumph. The Pagans, desirous of making converts, 
threw open the hitherto inaccessible portals of their mysterious 
rites. The strict scrutiny of the candidate's past life, and the 
demand for proofs of irreproachable conduct, were no longer 
deemed indispensable. The vile and the vic*ious were indiscrimi- 
nately, and even with avidity, admitted to participate in privi- 
leges which were once granted only to the noble and the virtuous. 
The sun of Paganism was setting, and its rites had become con- 



f Divine Legislation. j Plut. de Oraculis. 

I Plut. Consol. ad uxorem. || I ic. de Legibus. 

f Plato in Phaedone. 



322 MYS 

teniptible and corrupt. Their character was entirely changed 
and the initiations were indiscriminately sold by peddling priests, 
who wandered through the country, to every applicant who wa.s 
willing to pay a trifling fee for that which had once been refused 
to the entreaties of a monarch. At length these abominations 
attracted the attention of the emperors, and Constantine and 
Grratian forbade their celebration at night, excepting, however, 
from these edicts, the initiations at Eleusis. But finally Theo- 
dosius, by a general edict of proscription, ordered the whole of 
the Pagan mysteries to be abolished, in the four hundred and 
thirty-eighth year of the Christian era, and eighteen hundred 
years after their first establishment in Greece.* 

MYSTES. The Mystes was one who had been initiated only 
into the lesser mysteries, and who was therefore permitted to pro- 
ceed no farther than the vestibule or porch of the Temple. 
When admitted into the greater mysteries, and allowed to enter 
the adytum, or sanctuary, he was called an epopt. A female ini* 
tiate was called a mystis. 

MYOTIC TIE. That sacred and inviolable bond which 
unites men of the most discordant opinions into one band of 
brothers, which gives but one language to men of all nations, 
and one altar to men of all religions, is properly, from the mys- 
terious influence it exerts, denominated the mystic tie, and Free- 
masons, because they alone are under its influence, or enjoy its 
benefits, are called "Brethren of the mystic tie." 

* It was not, however, says Clavel, until the era of the restoration, that tho 
mysteries entirely ceased. During the Middle Ages, the mysteries of Diana, 
cinder the name of the Courses of Diana, and those of Pan, un ler the name 
of Sabbats, were practised in the country. 



NAB— NAM 323 

N. 

NABIIM, SCHOOLS OF THE. We repeatedly meet in 
the Old Testament with references to the Beni Hanabiim, or 
sons of the prophets.* These were the disciples of the prophets, 
or wise men of Israel, who underwent a course of esoteric in- 
struction in the secret institutions of the Nabiim or prophets, 
just as the disciples of the Magi did in Persia, or of Pythagoras 
in Greece. Of these institutions, Oliver says, that " though 
little is known of their internal economy, their rites and cere- 
monies being strictly concealed, there can be no doubt that they 
were in many respects similar to our masonic lodges, and in some 
of their features they bore a resemblance to the collegiate insti- 
tutions of our own country.""}" 

NAHARDA, FRATERNITY OF. The Jewish Rabbins 
tell us, that the tribes which were carried into captivity on the 
destruction of the first temple, founded a fraternity at Naharda, 
on the river Euphrates, for the preservation of traditional know- 
ledge, and which they transmitted to a few initiates, and that on 
the restoration of the Jews by Cyrus, Zerubbabel, with Joshua 
and Esdras, carried all this secret instruction to Jerusalem, and 
established a similar fraternity in that city. Oliver says that 
during the captivity, the Jews practised Freemasonry in regular 
lodges, until the time of their deliverance, and they had for this 
purpose three Colleges or Grand Lodges, which were situated at 
Sora, Pompeditha, and Naharda. 

NAME OF GOD. In addition to what has been said upon 
this subject in the article Jtlwcah, we may observe, that an allu- 



* I refer the reader for this expression to the Second B ok of Kings, chap, 
ii., verses 3, 5, 7, 12, 15. 

\ Historical Landmarks, ii., p. 374. Note. 



324 NAM 

sion to the unutterable name of God, is to be found in the doc- 
trines and ceremonies of other nations, as well as the Jews. It 
is said to have been used as the pass- word in the Egyptian mys- 
teries. In the rites of Hiudostan, it was bestowed upon the as- 
pirant, under the triliteral form AUM,* at the completion of his 
initiation, and then only by whispering it in his ear. The Ca- 
balists reckoned seventy-two names of God, the knowledge of 
which imparted to the possessor magical powers. The Druids 
invoked the omnipotent and all-preserving power, under the 
symbol I. 0. W. The Mohammedans have a science called Ism 
Allah, or the science of the name of God. " They pretend," 
says Niebuhr, " that God is the lock of this science, and Mo- 
hammed the key ; that consequently none but Mohammedans 
can attain it; that it discovers what passes in different countries; 
that it familiarizes the possessors with, the genii who are at the 
command of the initiated, and who instruct them ; that it places 
the winds and the seasons at their disposal, and heals the bites 
of serpents, the lame, the maimed, and the blind." 

Besides the Tetragrammaton, or incommunicable name, there 
are other expressive but less holy names of Deity. Maimonides, 
for instance, mentions a twelve lettered and a forty-two lettered 
naine.f 

Rosenberg gives the following twelve Cabalistic names : Ehie, 



* Sir William Jones, speaking of this Hindoo name of God, says : " It 
forms a mystical word which never escapes the lips of the pious Hindoo. They 
meditate on it in silence." — Dissertations relative to Asia, vol. i., p. 33. The 
Brahmins make a great secret of it, and the " Institutes of Menu" are conti- 
nually referring to its peculiar efficacy as an omnific word. "All rites ordained 
in the Veda," says this book, "oblations to fire and solemn sacrifices pass 
away, but that which passes not away is the syllable Aum, thence called 
aishara, since it is a symbol of God, the Lord of created beings." — Instit. of 
Me»u, p. 28. 

f Urquhart (Pillars of Hercules, vol. ii., p. 67) mentions one name of God 
among the Hebrews, which I have met with nowhere else, viz., El gibal, 
the master builder. 



NAM 325 

Jehovah, Elohiui, El, Gibbor, Eloah, Sabaoth, Tsebaoth, Shaddai, 
Adonai, Makorn, Agla. 

Lanci, whose researches on this subject have been surpassed by 
no other scholar, and equalled by few, extends his list of divine 
names to twenty-six, which, with their signification, are as fol- 
lows :* 

1. At. The Aleph and Tau, that is, Alpha and Omega. A 
name figurative of the Tetragrammaton. 

2. Ihoh. ") The eternal, absolute principle of creation and 

3. Holii. ) destruction, the male and female principle, the 
author and regulator of time and motion. 

4. Jah. The Lord and Remunerator. 

5. Oh. The severe and punisher. 

6. Jao. The author of life. 

7. Azazel. The author of death. 

8. Jao-Sabaoth. God of the co-ordinations of loves and ha- 
treds. Lord of the solstices and the equinoxes. 

9. Ehie. The Being 3 the Ens. 

10. El. The first cause. The principle or beginning of all 
things. 

11. Elo-hi. The good principle. 

12. Elo-lio. The evil principle. 

18. El-raccum. The succouring principle. 

14. El-cannum. The abhorring principle. 

15. Ell. The most luminous. 

16. II. The omnipotent. 

17. Elloliim. The omnipotent and beneficent. 

18. Elohim. The most beneficent. 

19. Elo. The Sovereign, the Excelsus. 

20. Adon. The Lord, the dominator. 

21. EloL The illuminator, the most effulgent. 

22. Adonai. The most firm, the strongest. 

23. Elion. The most hidi. 



I am indebted to ray friend, Mr. G-liddon. for tin's interesting list 
28 



326 NEB— NEO 

24. Shaddai. The most victorious. 

25. Yeshurun. The most generous. 

26. Noil. The most sublime. 

The ineffable degrees of masonry record a great variety of the 
names of God - } making the whole system, like the Mohammedan 
Ism Allah, a science of the name of God. In fact, the name of 
God must be taken in Freemasonry as symbolical of truth, and 
then the search for it will be nothing else but the search after 
truth, the true end and aim of the masonic science. The subor- 
dinate names are the subordinate modifications of truth, but the 
ineffable tetragrammaton will be the sublimity and perfection of Di- 
vine Truth, to which all good Masons and all good men are seek- 
ing to approach, whether it be by the aid of the theological lad- 
der, or passing through the pillars of Strength and Establishment, 
or wandering in the mazes of darkness, beset on all sides by dan- 
gers, or travelling weary and worn over rough and rugged roads, 
whatever be the direction of our journey or how accomplished, 
light and truth, the Urim and Thummin, are the ultimate objects 
of our search as Freemasons. 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR. A king of Babylon, who in the ele- 
venth year of the reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah, having, after 
a siege of about twelve months, taken Jerusalem, commanded 
Nebuzaradan, one of his generals, to set fire to and utterly con- 
sume the temple, to reduce the city to desolation, and to carry 
the citizens captive to Babylon. See the entire history under 
the title of Royal Arch. 

NEBUZARADAN. One of the generals of the King of 
Babylon, who by his order entered Jurusalem with a Chaldean 
army, and after having taken away every thing that was valuable, 
burned the city and temple, and carried all the inhabitants, except 
a few husbandmen, as captives to Babylon. 

NEOPHYTE. (From the Greek vew form, a new plant.) 



NEV— NIN 327 

En the primitive church it signified one who had recently aban- 
doned Judaism or Paganism, and embraced Christianity; whence 
it was afterwards applied to the young disciple of any art or 
science. Freemasons thus sometimes designate the uninstructed 
candidate. 

NE VARIETUR. " Lest it should be changed" These 
words refer to the masonic usage of requiring a brother, when he 
receives a certificate from a lodge, to affix his name, in his own 
hand-writing, in the margin, as a precautionary measure, in 
enabling distant brethren to recognise the true and original owner 
of the certificate, and to detect any impostor who may surrepti- 
tiously have obtained one. 

NINE. If the number three is sacred among Masons, the num- 
ber nine, or three times three, is scarcely less so. The Pytha- 
goreans, remarking that this number has the power of always re- 
producing itself by multiplication,* considered it as an emblem 
of matter which, though continually changing its form, is never 
annihilated. It was also consecrated to the spheres, because the 
circumference of a sphere is 360 degrees, and 3 and 6 and are 
equal to 9. 

In Freemasonry, 9 derives its value from its being the product 
of 3 multiplied into itself, and consequently in masonic language 
the number 9 is always denoted by the expression 3 times 3. For 
a similar reason, 27, which is 3 times 9, and 81, which is 9 
times 9, are esteemed as sacred numbers in the higher degrees. 



* Thus 2 9—18, and 1 and 8—9. 

3 9—27, and 2 and 7—9. 

4 9—36, and 3 and 6—9. 

5 9 — 45, and 4 and 5 — 9. 

6 9—54, and 5 and 4—9. 

7 9—63, and 6 and 3—9. 

8 9—72, and 7 and 2—9. 

9 9—81, and S and 1—9. 



328 NOA 

NOACHIMB, or NOACHITES. The descendants of Noah 
A term applied to Freemasons. Noah having alone preserved 
the true name and worship of God, amid a race of impious ido- 
laters, Freemasons claim to be his descendants, because they still 
preserve that pure religion which distinguished this second father 
of the human race from the rest of the world. And even when 
his descendants began again, in the plains of Shinar, to forget 
the Almighty, and to wander from the path of purity, the prin- 
ciples of Noah were still perpetuated by that portion of his race 
whom the Freemasons of the present day regard as their early 
predecessors. Hence, Freemasons call themselves Noachidae, or 
the sons of Noah. 

This respect for Noah, as the father and founder of the masonic 
system of theology, was not confined to the pure Freemasons, but 
extended, even unconsciously, to the seceders from its spirit, 
those whom Oliver calls the spurious Freemasons of antiquity. 
In all their mysteries, they commemorated, even after they had 
lost the true history, the descent of Noah into the ark, and his 
subsequent exodus. The entrance into initiation was symbolic of 
his entrance into the vessel of his salvation ; his detention in the 
ark was represented by the darkness and the pastos, coffin, or 
couch in which the aspirant was placed, and the exit of Noah, after 
the forty days of deluge, was seen in the manifestation of the 
candidate, when, being fully tried and proved, he was admitted 
to full light, amid the rejoicings of the surrounding initiates, who 
received him in the sacellum or holy place. 

NOACHITE, or PRUSSIAN KNIGHT. Nbachite ou 

Chevalier Prussien. The 21st degree of the Ancient Scotch rite, 
called by its possessors not a degree, but "the very Ancient Order 
of Noachites." In this degree the Knights celebrate the destruc- 
tion of the Tower of Babel, and for this purpose they meet on the 
night of the full moon of each month. No other light is permit- 
ted in the lodge than what proceeds from that satellite. The 
records of the order furnish us with the following histc *y The 



NOA— NOR 329 

Noachites, at this day called Prussian Knights, are the descend- 
ants of Peleg, Chief Architect of the Tower of Babel. Thus 
they trace the origin of their order to a more ancient date than 
the descendants of Hiram, for the Tower of Babel was built many 
ages before the Temple of Solomon. And formerly it was not 
necessary that candidates for this degree should be Hiramites or 
Blue Masons. But a different regulation was afterwards adopted, 
and to receive the degree of Noachite, it is now necessary that the 
candidate shall have performed the duties of a worthy office in a 
regularly constituted lodge of Blue Masons. The order of Noa- 
chites was established in Prussia in 1755, and inducted into France 
by the Count St. Grelaire in 1757. 

NOAH, PRECEPTS OF. The precepts of the patriarch 
Noah, which were preserved as the constitutions of our ancient 
brethren, are seven in number, and are as follows : 

1. Renounce all idols. 

2. Worship the only true God. 

3. Commit no murder. 

4. Be not denied by incest. 

5. Do not steal. 

6. Be just. 

7. Eat no flesh with blood in it. 

The " proselytes of the gate," as the Jews termed those who 
lived among them without undergoing circumcision, or observing 
the ceremonial law, were bound to obey the seven precepts of 
Noah. 

NOMINATION. The nomination of officers, previous to an 
election, is contrary to true masonic usage. Officers should be 
elected in the manner prescribed under the article Election. 

NORTH. The north is masonically called a place of dark 
ness. I doubt whether I am at liberty to explain the reason 
But I may make this general explanation. The sun in his pro 



330 NUM 

gress through the ecliptic, never reaches farther than 23° 28' 
north of the equator. A wall being erected on any part of the 
earth farther north than that, will, therefore, receive the rays of 
the sun only on its south side, while the north will be entirely in 
shadow at the hour of meridian. 

NUMBERS. The mystical meaning and divine virtue of 
numbers formed au important part of the philosophy of Pytha- 
goras, and from him have been transmitted to the masonic system 
of symbolism. Pythagoras doubtless brought his doctrines on 
this subject from Egypt, in which country he long resided, and 
with whose wisdom he was richly embued. In numbers Pytha- 
goras saw the principle of all things ; he believed that the crea- 
tion of the world was produced by their harmonious combination, 
and that they existed before the world. 

According to the doctrine of this sage, numbers are of two 
kinds, intellectual and scientific. 

Intellectual number has always existed in the divine mind ; 
it is the basis of universal order, and the link which binds all 
things. 

Scientific number is the generative cause of multiplicity, 
which proceeds from and is the result of unity. Scientific num- 
bers are equal or odd. 

Equal numbers are said to be female, and odd ones, male ; be- 
cause even numbers admit of division or generation, which odd 
ones do not. Odd numbers, however, are the most perfect. 

To each number Pythagoras ascribed a peculiar character and 
quality. 

One, — the Monad, — represented the central fire, or Grod, 
without beginning and without end, the point within the circle. 
It also denoted love, concord, piety, and friendship, because it is 
indivisible. It was the symbol of identity, equality, existence, 
and universal preservation and harmony. 

Two was unlucky, and as one denoted light and the good 
principle or God, two denoted darkness and the evil principle. 



NUM 331 

Hence it was that the Romans dedicated the second month of 
the year to Pinto, the god of hell, and the second day of that 
month to the manes of the dead. 

Three referred to harmony, friendship, peace, concord, and 
temperance, and was so highly esteemed among the Pythago- 
reans that they called this number " perfect harmony. 

Four was a divine number ; it referred to Deity, and among 
the ancients many nations gave to Grod a name of four letters, as 
the Hebrews nii~I% the Assyrians ADAD, the Egyptians 
AMUM, the Persians SYRE, the Greeks BEOS, and the Latins 
DEUS. This, which was the Tetragrammaton of the Hebrews, 
the Pythagoreans called Tetractys, and used it as a most solemn 
oath.* 

Five denoted light, nature, marriage; the latter, because it 
was made up of the female two and the male three, whence it is 
sometimes called a hemaphrodite number. The triple triangle, 
which was a figure of five lines uniting into five points, was 
among the Pythagoreans an emblem of health. 

Six was also an emblem of health, and it was also the symbol 
of justice, because it was the first perfect number, that is, one 
whose aliquot parts being added together make itself, for the ali- 
quot parts of six, which are three, two and one, are equal to six. 

Seven was highly esteemed, and called a venerable number, 
because it referred to the creation of the world. 

Eight was esteemed as the first cube, (2X2X2) and sig- 
nified friendship, prudence, counsel, and justice. It designated 
the primitive law of nature, which supposes all men to be equal. 

Nine was called rskstoq, or perfect, finished, because nine 
months is the period required for the perfection of a human being 
in the womb before birth. 

Ten was denominated heaven, because it was the perfection 
and consummation of all things, and was constituted by the 
union of One, the monad or active principle, Two, the duad or 

"'•'" See Tetractys. 



332 



NUM 



passive principle, Three, the triad or world proceeding from 
their union, and Four, the sacred tetractys, thus 1 -f- 2 -{- 3 -f- 
4 = 10. Hence Ten contained all the relations, numerical and 
harmonic. 

The Pythagoreans extended still farther their speculations on 
the first three numbers, the monad, the duad, and the triad. 

The monad was male, because its action produces no change in 
itself, but only out of itself. It represented the creative prin- 
ciple. 

The duad, for a contrary reason, was female, being ever chang- 
ing by addition, substraction, or multiplication. It represents 
matter capable of form. 

The union of the monad and duad produces the triad, which 
signifies the world formed by the creative principle out of matter. 
This world Pythagoras represented by the right angled triangle, 
because the square of the longest side is equal to the squares of 
the two other sides, and the world as it is formed is equal to the 
formative cause and matter clothed with form. Thus : 




Monad — Creative Principl 



In symbolic masonry, three, five, and seven, are mystic num- 
bers, as is nine in Royal Arch Masonry. In the ineffable de- 
grees, nine, with its products, such as twenty-seven and eighty- 
one are sacred. 

For further observations on some of these numbers, see in 
this work, the words, Five, Nine, Seven, Three and Tetractys. 



OBE— OBL 333 



O. 

OBEDIENCE. Submission to the constituted authorities, 
both in the state and in the craft, is a quality inculcated upon 
all Masons. With respect to the state, a Mason is charged to 
be " a peaceable subject to the civil powers, wherever he resides 
or works, and never to be concerned in plots or conspiracies 
against the peace and welfare of the nation, nor to behave him- 
self undutifully to inferior magistrates."* And with respect to 
the crafty he is directed " to pay due reverence to his Master, 
Wardens, and Fellows, and to put them to worship. ;; f And 
another part of the same regulations directs, that the rulers and 
governors, supreme and subordinate, of the ancient lodge, are to 
be obeyed in their respective stations, by all the brethren, with 
all humility, reverence, love, and alacrity."! 

Oliver, commentino; on the emblematic allusion of the Master 
to the Sun and Moon, says: " Hence we find that the Master's 
authority in the lodge, is despotic as the sun in the firmament, 
which was placed there by the Creator, never to deviate from its 
accustomed course till the declaration is promulgated that time 
shall be no more."§ 

This spirit of obedience runs through the whole system, and 
constitutes one of the greatest safeguards of our institution. 
The Mason is obedient to the Master ; the Master and the lodge 
to the Grand Lodge ; and this, in its turn, to the old landmarks 
and ancient regulations of the order. Thus is a due degree of 
subordination kept up and the institution preserved in its pristine 
purity. 

OBLONG- SQUARE. A parallelogram or four sided figure, 



* Old Charges, Sect. 1. f Ibm., Sect 2. J Ibm., Sect. 4. 

g Signs and Symbols, p. 205. 



S34 OBS 

all of whose angles are equal, but two of whose sides are. longer 
than the others. 

This is the symbolic form of a masonic lodge, and it finds its 
prototype in many of the structures of our ancient brethren. 
The ark of Noah, the camp of the Israelites, the ark of the 
Covenant, the Tabernacle, and lastly, the Temple of Solomon, 
were all oblong squares. See Ground Floor of the Lodge. 

OBSERVANCE, RITE OF STRICT. The rite of Strict 
Observance was a modification of masonry, based on the order 
of Knights Templar, and introduced into Germany in 1754 by 
its founder, the Baron Hunde. It was divided into the following 
seven degrees: 1. Apprentice; 2. Fellow Craft; 3. Master; 4. 
Scotch Master; 5. Novice; 6. Templar; 7. Professed Knight. 

According to the system of the founder of this rite, upon the 
death of Jacques Molay, the Grand Master of the Templars, 
Pierre d' Aumont, the Provincial Grand Master of Auvergne, with 
two commanders and five knights, retired for purposes of safety 
into Scotland, which place they reached disguised as operative 
Masons, and there finding the Grand Commander, George Har- 
ris, and several Knights, they determined to continue the order 
Aumont was nominated Grand Master, at a chapter held on St. 
John's day, 1313. To avoid persecution, the Knights became 
Freemasons. In 1361, the Grand Master of the Temple removed 
his seat to Old Aberdeen, and from that time the order, under 
the veil of masonry, spread rapidly through France, Germany, 
Spain, Portugal, and elsewhere. These events constituted the prin- 
cipal subject of many of the degrees of the rite of Strict Observance. 
The others were connected with alchemy, magic, and other super- 
stitious practices. The great doctrine contended for, by the follow- 
ers of the rite, was, "that every true Mason is a Knight Templar."* 

OBSERVANCE, CLERKS OF RELAXED. The Clerks 

*Clavel, p. 184. 



OFF— ON 335 

of Relaxed Observance were a schism from the order of Strict 
Observance, described above. They claimed a pre-eminence over 
not only the latter rite, but over all masonry. The rite was 
divided into ten degrees, called Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, Master, 
African Brother, Knight of St. Andrew, Knight of the Eagle, 
Scotch Master, Sovereign Magus, Provincial Master of the Red 
Cross, and Knight of Light. This last degree was divided into 
five sections, comprehending Knight Novice of the third year, 
Knight of the fifth year, Knight of the seventh year, Knight 
Levite, and Knight Priest. To be initiated into the mysteries 
of the Clerks, it was necessary to be a Roman Catholic, and to 
have taken all the military degrees of the rite of Strict Obser- 
vance. Alchemy was one of the objects of their secret instruc- 
tion.* 

OFFERINGS, THE THREE GRAND. See Ground Floor 
of the Lodge. 

OFFICERS. See Installation, Jewels, Lodge. 

OIL. The Hebrews anointed their kings, prophets, and high 
priests, with oil mingled with the richest spices. They also 
anointed themselves with oil on all festive occasions, whence the 
expression in Psalms xlv. 7, " God hath anointed thee with the 
oil of gladness." See Com. 

ON. An ancient Egyptian word signifying the Sun, which 
was at one time worshipped by the Egyptians as the Supreme 
Deity. The city of On, in Lower Egypt, which contained a 
temple dedicated to the worship of this divinity is called, in the 
septuagint, " Heliopolis," or the city of the Sun, and by Jere- 
miah (xliii. 13,) " Beth-sheinesh," which has the same significa- 
tion. In Genesis (xli. 45-50.) we are informed that Pharaoh 



*Clavel, p. 187. 



336 OPE— ORD 

gave Joseph for his wife Asenath, " the daughter of Potipherah, 
priest of On." On may therefore be considered as the equiva- 
lent for Jehovah among the Egyptians, as Jah was among the 
Syrians and Bel among the Chaldees. The modern masonic cor 
ruption of this word into " Lun" is sheer nonsense. 

OPENING OF THE LODGE. The ceremony of opening 
the lodge is solemn and impressive. Every brother is reminded 
by it of his duties and obligations. The necessary precautions 
are employed to avoid the intrusion of the profane, and every 
member being compelled to assume a share of the necessary 
forms, is thus admonished, that masonry is a whole, of which each 
Mason forms a part. 

The manner of opening in each degree slightly varies. In the 
English system, which seems, according to the " Trestle Board'' 
published under the sanction of the late Baltimore Masonic Con- 
vention, to have been adopted by that body, the lodge is opened 
in the first degree " in the name of God and Universal Benevo- 
lence;" in the second, " on the square, in the name of the Great 
Geometrician of the Universe j" and in the third, " on the centre, 
in the name of the Most High."* 

OPERATIVE MASONRY. See Masonry. 

ORATOR. An officer in a lodge of the French rite, whose 
principal duty is to give instruction to the newly initiated. The 
duties of the office are those of a Lecturer. 

ORDER. An order is defined by Johnson, to be, among 
other things, " a regular government, a society of dignified per- 
sons, distinguished by marks of honour, and a religious frater- 
nity." In all of these senses, masonry may be styled an order. 
Its government is of the most regular and systematic rbaracter ; 

* See Moore and Carnegy's Trestle Board, ch. iii. 



ORD— ORN 337 

men the most eminent for dignity and reputation, Lave been its 
members, and if it does not constitute a religion in itself, it is at 
least religion's band-maid. 

The word was first nsed by the ecclesiastical writers of the 
tenth century to signify a certain form or rnle of monastic dis- 
cipline, and was in that sense applied to the different sects of 
monks. 

ORDERS OF ARCHITECTURE. A system of the several 
members, ornaments, and proportions of columns and pilasters, 
is called an order. There are five orders of columns, three of 
which are Greek, the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian ; and two 
Italian, the Tuscan and Composite. See these respective titles. 

ORDO AB CHAO. Order out of Chaos. A motto of the 
38d degree, and having the same allusion as lux e tenebris, 
which see. 

ORIENT. The East. The place where a lodge is situated 
is called its Orient. The seat of the Grand Lodge is called the 
Grand Orient.* But on the continent of Europe, some of the 
supreme masonic bodies are called Grand Orients. In these in- 
stances, Grand Orient is equivalent to Grand Lodge. 

ORIENTAL CHAIR OF SOLOMON. The seat of the 
W.\ M.\ in a symbolic lodge, and so called because the Master 
is supposed symbolically to fill the place over the craft once occu- 
pied by King Solomon. 



ORNAMENTS OF A LODGE, These are the Mosaic pave- 
ent, the 
Pavement. 



ment, the indented tessel, and the blazing star. See Mosaic. 



* The term is thus used, because in masonry the East is the seat of light 
and of authority. It is the station of the Worshipful Master. 



338 ORN— ORP 

ORNAN THE JEBUSITE. He was an inhabitant of Jeru- 
salem, at the time that city was called Jebus, from the son of 
Canaan, whose descendants peopled it. He was the owner of 
the threshing floor, situated on Mount Moriah, in the same spot 
on which the temple was afterwards built. This threshing floor 
David bought to erect on it an altar to God. (2 Chron. xxi. 
18-25.) On the same spot Solomon afterwards built the temple 

ORPHIC MYSTERIES. These Grecian rites were only a 
modification of the mysteries of Bacchus or Dionysus, and were 
thus called, because it was said that Orpheus first introduced the 
worship of Bacchus into Greece from Egypt. They differed, 
however, from the other pagan rites, in not being confined to the 
priesthood, but in being practised by a fraternity who did not 
possess the sacerdotal functions. The initiated commemorated 
in their ceremonies, which were performed at night, the murder 
of Bacchus by the Titans, and his final restoration to the supreme 
government of the universe, under the name of Phanes. 

Demosthenes, while reproaching Eschines for having engaged 
with his mother in these mysteries, gives us some notion of their 
nature. 

In the day, the initiates were crowned with fennel and poplar, 
and carried serpents in their hands, or twined them around their 
heads, crying with a loud voice, enos, sabos, and danced to the 
sound of the mystic words, hyes, attes, attes, hyes. At night the 
mystes was bathed in the lustral water, and having been rubbed 
over with clay and bran, he was clothed in the skin of a fawn, 
and having risen from the bath, he exclaimed, "I have departed 
from evil and have found the good."* 

The Orphic initiation, because it was not sacerdotal in its cha- 
racter, was not so celebrated among the ancients, as the other 
mysteries. It, nevertheless, existed until the first ages of the 
Christian era, and fell, with the remaining rites of paganism, a 

* Demo8th. contra C'esiph. Orat. pp. 568-9. 



OSI— PAS 339 

victim to the rapid and triumphant progress of the new re- 
ligion. 



*&' 



OSIRIS. For the legend of Osiris, see Egyptian Mysteries. 

OVERSEER. The title of three officers in a Mark Lodge, 
who are distinguished as the Master, Senior and Junior Overseer. 
The jewel of their office is a square. In Mark lodges attached 
to chapters, the duties of these officers are performed by the 
three Grand Masters of the veils. 



P. 



PARALLEL LINES. In every well-regulated lodge, there 
is found a point within a circle, which circle is embordered by 
two perpendicular parallel lines. These lines are representatives 
of St. John the Baptist, and St. John the Evangelist, the two 
great patrons of masonry, to whom our lodges are dedicated, and 
who are said to have been " perfect parallels in Christianity, as 
well as Masonry." In those English lodges which have adopted 
the "Union System" established by the Grand Lodge of Eng- 
land in 1815, and where the dedication is "to God and his ser- 
vice," the lines parallel represent Moses and Solomon. See 
Dedication. 

PASCHALIS, MARTINEZ. The founder of a new rite or 
modification of masonry, called by him, the rite of Elected Cohens 
or Priests. It was divided into two classes, in the first of which 
was represented the fall of man from virtue and happiness, and 
in the second, his final restoration. It consisted of nine degrees, 



340 PAS 

namely: 1, Apprentice; 2, Fellow-Craft; 3, Master; 4, Grand 
Elect ; 5, Apprentice Cohen ; 6, Fellow Craft Cohen ; 7, Mastei 
Cohen ; 8, Grand Architect ; 9, Knight Commander. Paschalis 
first introduced this rite into some of the lodges of Marseilles, 
Toulouse, and Bordeaux, and afterwards, in 1767, he extended 
it to Paris, where, for a short time, it was rather popular, rank- 
ing some of the Parisian literateurs among its disciples. It has 
now ceased to exist. 

PASSED. A candidate, on receiving the second degree, is 
said to be " passed as a Fellow-Craft." It alludes to his having 
passed through the porch to the middle chamber of the temple, 
the place in which Fellow-Crafts received their wages. 

PAST MASTER. An honorary degree conferred on the 
W. - . Master, at his installation into office. In this degree, the 
necessary instructions are conferred respecting the various cere- 
monies of the order, such as installations, processions, the laying 
of corner stones, etc. The ceremonies of the degree, when pro- 
perly conferred, inculcate a lesson of diffidence in assuming the 
responsibilities of an office without a due preparation for the per- 
formance of its duties. 

When a brother who has never before presided, has been 
elected the Master of a lodge, an emergent lodge of Past 
Masters is convened, and all but Past Masters retiring, the degree 
is conferred upon the newly elected officer; often the installing 
officer alone confers the degree. 

But the degree is also conferred in Royal Arch Chapters 
where it succeeds the Mark Master's degree. The conferring of 
this degree, which has no historical connection with the rest of 
the degrees, in a chapter, arises from the following circumstance 
Originally, when chapters of Royal Arch Masonry were under 
the government of lodges, in which the degree was then always 
conferred, it was a part of the regulations that no one could re- 
ceive the Royal Arch degree, unless he had previously presided 



PAS 341 

in the lodge as Master. When the chapters became independ- 
ent, the regulation could not be abolished, for that would have 
been an innovation ; the difficulty has, therefore, been obviated, 
by making every candidate for the degree of Royal Arch, a, Past 
Master before his exaltation. 

For several years past the question has been agitated in some 
of the Grand Lodges of the United States, whether this degree 
is within the jurisdiction of Symbolic or of Royal Arch masonry 
The explanation of its introduction into chapters, just given, 
manifestly demonstrates that the jurisdiction over it by chapters 
is altogether an assumed one. The Past Master of a chapter is 
only a quasi Past Master ■ the true and legitimate Past Master 
is the one who has presided over a symbolic lodge. 

Past Masters are admitted to membership in many Grand 
Lodges, and by some the inherent right has been claimed to sit 
in those bodies. But the most eminent masonic authorities have 
made a contrary decision, and the general, and, indeed, almost 
universal opinion now is, that Past Masters obtain their seats in 
Grand Lodges by courtesy, and in consequence of local regula- 
tions, and not by inherent right. 

The jewel of a Past Master in the United States is a pair of 
compasses extended to sixty degrees on the fourth part of a 
circle, with a sun in the centre. In England it was formerly 
the square on a quadrant, but is at present the square with the 
forty-seventh problem of Euclid engraved on a silver plate sus- 
pended within it. 

PASTOS. (Greek -aaroq, a couch.') The pastos was a chest 
or close cell, in the pagan mysteries, (among the Druids, an ex- 
cavated stone,) in which the aspirant was for some time placed. 
to commemorate the mystical death of the god. This constituted 
the symbolic death, which was common to all the mysteries. Id 
the Arkite rites, the pastos represented the ark in which Noah 
was confined. We may refer it to the coffin among masonic em 

blems. 

' 29 * 



342 PEC— PEL 

PECTORAL. Belonging to the breast, from the Latin 
pectus, the breast. The heart has always been considered the 
seat of fortitude and courage, and hence by this word is sug« 
gested to the Mason certain symbolic instructions in relation to 
the virtue of fortitude. 

PEDAL. Belonging to the feet, from the Latin pes, a foot. 
The just man is he who, firmly planting his feet on the princi- 
ples of right, is as immovable as a rock, and can be thrust from 
his upright position neither by the allurements of flattery, nor 
the frowns of arbitrary power. And hence by this word is sug- 
gested to the Mason certain symbolic instructions in relation to 
the virtue of justice. 

PEDESTAL. The pedestal is the lowest part or base of a 
column on which the shaft is placed. In a lodge, there are sup- 
posed to be three columns, the column of Wisdom in the east, 
the column of Strength in the west, and the column of Beauty 
in the south. These columns are not generally erected in the 
lodge, but their pedestals always are, and at each pedestal sits 
one of the three superior officers of the lodge. Hence we often 
hear such expressions as these, advancing to the pedestal, or 
standing before the pedestal, to signify advancing to or standing 
before the seat of the Worshipful Master.* 

PELICAN. The pelican is one of the symbols of the Rose 
Croix degree, and is intended as an allusion to the Redeemer, 
who shed his blood for the good of man. 

Ragon says that in the hieroglyphic monuments the eagle wsr 
the symbol of a wise man, and the pelican of a benevolent on. 
and therefore he thinks that the eagle and pelican of the Rose 

* The custom in some lodges of placing tables or desks before the three 
principal officers, is, of course, incorrect. They should, for the reason above 
assigned, be representations of the pedestals of column, and should be painted 
to represent marble or stone. 



PEN 343 

Croix are intended to symbolize perfect wisdom and perfect 
charity.* 

PENALTY. The ceremony of entering into a covenant 
among the ancient Hebrews, is alluded to in Jeremiah xxxiv. 18. 
It was usual for the parties covenanting, to cut a beast in twain, 
and pass between the parts thereof. Jeremiah also relates the 
penalties to be inflicted upon the people for a breach of their 
covenant. An English writer, Brother Groodacre, (quoted by 
Dr. Oliver,) thus fully explains the whole ceremony of making 
the covenant. The allusion will not escape the attentive Mason. 

" After an animal had been selected, his throat was cut across 
with one single blow, so as to divide the windpipe, arteries, and 
veins, without touching any bone. The next ceremony was to 
tear the breast open and pluck out the heart, and if there were 
the least imperfection, the body would be considered unclean. 
The animal was then divided into two parts, and placed north 
and south, that the parties to the covenant might pass between 
them from east to west ; and the carcass was then left as a prey 
to voracious animals." 

PENNY. The penny a day referred to in the Mark degree 
as the wages of a workman, was the Roman denarius, equal to 
about seven pence three farthings sterling, or twelve cents and a 
half federal currency. 

PENT ALPHA. A geometrical figure representing an endless 
triangle with five points, thus : 




* Cours des Initiations, p. 320. 



344 PER 

It was used by the Pythagoreans as an emblem of health. 
(Sue Five.) The Pentalpha of Pythagoras, as it is called, is in 
Masonry the outline or origin of the five-pointed star, and the 
symbol of fellowship and fraternity. By some writers it has 
improperly been confounded with the Shield of David or Solo- 
mon's Seal. 

PERFECTION. Grand ecossais de la voute sacree du Jacques 
VI. The 14th degree in the Ancient Scotch rite, the 20th in 
the rite of Misraim. In the Scotch rite, as practised in this 
country, the degree receives the name we have given it, as well 
as that of " Grand Elect, Perfect and Sublime Mason," but in 
France it is called " Grand Scotch Mason of the sacred vault of 
James VI." This is one of the evidences of the influence ex- 
erted by the Pretender and his adherent, Ramsay, over the or- 
ganization of this rite. This degree is called by its possessors 
the ultimate degree of ancient masonry, and it is indeed the last 
of the ineffable degrees that refer to the first 'temple. Its officers 
are a Most Perfect Master, representing Solomon, two Grand 
Wardens, a Grand Treasurer, and Grand Secretary. The follow- 
ing history is connected with this degree. 

When the temple was finished, the Masons who had been em- 
ployed in constructing it, acquired immortal honour. Their 
order became more uniformly established and regulated than it 
had been before. Their caution and reserve in admitting new 
members, produced respect, and merit alone was required of the 
candidate. With these principles instilled into their minds, 
many of the Grand Elect left the Temple after its dedication^ 
and dispersing themselves among the neighbouring nations, in- 
structed all who applied and were found worthy in the sublime 
degrees of ancient craft masonry. 

The temple was completed in the year of the world, 8000. 
Thus far, the wise King of Israel had behaved worthy of him- 
self, and gained universal admiration; but in process of time, 
when he had advanced in years, his understanding became im- 
paired ; he grew deaf to the voice of the Lord, and was strangely 



PER 345 

irregular in his conduci. Proud of having erected an edifice to 
his Maker, and intoxicated with his great power, he plunged into 
all manner of licentiousness and debauchery, and profaned the 
temple, by offering to the idol Moloch, that incense which should 
have been offered only to the living God. 

The Grand Elect and Perfect Masons saw this, and were sorely 
grieved, afraid that his apostacy would end in some dreadful con- 
sequences, and bring upon them those enemies whom Solomon 
had vain-gloriously and wantonly defied. The people, copying 
the vices and follies of their king, became proud and idolatrous, 
and neglected the worship of the true God, for that of idols. 

As an adequate punishment for this defection, God inspired 
the heart of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, to take ven- 
geance on the kingdom of Israel. This prince sent an army 
with Nebuzaradan, Captain of the Guards, who entered Judah 
with fire and sword, took and sacked the city of Jerusalem, 
razed its walls, and destroyed the temple. The people were car- 
ried captive to Babylon, and the conquerors took with them all 
the vessels of silver and gold. This happened four hundred and 
seventy years, six months and ten days after its dedication. 

When, in after times, the princes of Christendom entered into 
a league to free the Holy Land from the oppression of the infi- 
dels, the good and virtuous Masons, anxious for the success of so 
pious an undertaking, voluntarily offered their services to the 
confederates, on condition that they should be permitted a chief 
of their own election, which was granted ; they accordingly ral- 
lied under their standard and departed. 

The valour and fortitude of these elected knights was such, 
that they were admired by, and took the lead of, all the princes 
of Jerusalem ; who, believing that their mysteries inspired them 
with courage and fidelity in the cause of virtue and religion, be- 
came desirous of being initiated. Upon being found worthy, 
their desires wer3 complied with, and thus, the royal art, meet- 
ing the approbation of great and good men, became popular and 
honourable, was diffused through their various dominions, and 



346 PER 

has continued to spread through a succession of ages to the pre- 
sent day. 

The symbolic order of this degree is red, emblematic of fer- 
vour, constancy, and assiduity. 

The jewel of the degree is a pair of compasses extended on 
an arc of 90 degrees, surmounted by a crown, and with a sun in 
the centre. 

The apron is white with red flames, bordered with blue, and 
having the jewel painted on the flap. 

PERFECTION, RITE OF. In 1754, the Chevalier de 
Bonneville established a chapter of the high degrees, which he 
called the chapter of Clermont, in honour of Louis of Bourbon, 
Prince of Clermont, at that time Grand Master of the fraternity 
in France. The system of masonry he there practised received 
the name of the rite of Perfection, or rite of Heredom. It con- 
sists of twenty-five degrees, most of which are the same as those 
of the Ancient Scotch rite. The degrees are as follows : — 1, 
Apprentice; 2, Fellow Craft; 3, Master; 4, Secret Master; 5, 
Perfect Master; 6, Intimate Secretary; 7, Intendant of the 
Buildings; 8, Provost and Judge; 9, Elect of nine; 10, Elect 
of fifteen ; 11, Illustrious elect, Chief of the twelve tribes ; 12, 
Grand Master Architect ; 13, Royal Arch ; 14, Grand, Elect, 
Ancient, Perfect Master ; 15, Knight of the Sword ; 16, Prince 
of Jerusalem ; 17, Knight of the East and West ; 18, Rose 
Croix Knight; 19, Grand Pontiff; 20, Grand Patriarch; 21, 
Grand Master of the Key of Masonry; 22, Prince of Libanus ; 
23, Sovereign Prince Adept, Chief of the Grand Consistory ; 24, 
Illustrious Knight, Commander of the Black and White Eagle ; 
25, Most Illustrious Sovereign Prince of Masonry, Grand Knight, 
Sublime Commander of the Royal Secret. 

The distinguishing principle of this rite is, that Freemasonry 
was derived from Templarism, and that consequently every Free- 
mason was a Knight Templar. It is still practised, or was a few 
years since, in a single lodge in Paris. 



PER 347 

PERFECT MASTER. MaUre Par/ait The fifth degree in 
the Aicient Scotch rite. The ceremonies of this degree were 
originally established as a grateful tribute of respect to a worthy 
departed brother. The officers of the lodge are a Right Wor- 
shipful Master, who represents the Noble Adoniram, the inspec- 
tor of the works at Mount Libanus, and a Warden, who is called 
Inspector. The conductor represents Zerbal, the Captain of the 
Guards. The symbolic colour of the degree is green, to remind 
the Perfect Master that, being dead in vice, he must hope to re- 
vive in virtue. His jewel is a compass extended 60 degrees, to 
teach him that he should act within measure, and ever pay due 
regard to justice and equity. 

The apron is white, with a green flap, and in the middle of the 
apron must be embroidered or painted, within three circles, a 
square stone, in the centre of which the letter J is inscribed. 

PERFECT UNION, LODGE OF. A lodge at Rennes in 
France, which, in the last century, created a new modification of 
masonry, under the name of the rite of the Elect of Truth. It 
consisted of fourteen degrees, divided into three classes, taken 
with slight alterations from the rite of perfection. The degrees 
were as follows : 

I. Class. — 1, Entered Apprentice; 2, Fellow-Craft; 3, 
Master; 4, Perfect Master. 

II. Glass. — 5, Elect of nine; 6, Elect of fifteen; 7, Master 
Elect ; 8, Minor Architect ; 9, Second Architect ; 10, Grand 
Architect; 11, Knight of the East; 12, Rose Croix. 

III. Class.— 13, Knight Adept; 14, Elect of Truth. 

This rite, at one time, had several lodges in various parts of 
France. 

PERPENDICULAR. In a geometrical sense, that which is 
upright and erect, leaning neither one way nor another. In a 
figurative and symbolic sense, it conveys the signification of Jus- 
Lite, Fortitude, Prudence, and Temperance. Justice, that leans 



348 PER 

to no side but that of Truth ; Fortitude, that yields to no ad- 
verse attack Prudence, that ever pursues the straight path of 
integrity; and Temperance, that swerves not for appetite nor 
passion. See Plumb. 

PERSECUTIONS. I enter on the history of the persecu- 
tions to which our order has been subjected, with a reluctance 
that I have not felt in the other portions of this work. The re- 
cord of the follies and the crimes of his race, furnish no pleasant 
theme to the historian. But truth summons me to the task, 
odious though it be, of showing that masonry, virtuous as are its 
principles, charitable as are its objects, and instructive as are its 
ceremonies, has, nevertheless, been repeatedly exposed to the 
blinded rage of political hostility, or of religious bigotry. 

One of the first persecutions to which masonry, in its present 
organization, was subjected, occurred in the year 1735, in Hol- 
land. On the 16th of October, of that year, a crowd of igno- 
rant fanatics whose zeal had been enkindled by the denunciations 
of some of the clergy, broke into a house in Amsterdam, where 
a lodge was accustomed to be held, and destroyed all the furni- 
ture and ornaments of the lodge. The States General, yielding 
to the popular excitement, or rather desirous of giving no occa- 
sion for its action, prohibited the future meetings of the lodges. 
One, however, continuing, regardless of the edict, to meet at a 
private house, the members were arrested and brought before the 
Court of Justice. Here, in the presence of the whole city, the 
Masters and Wardens defended themselves with great dexterity • 
and while acknowledging their inability to prove the innocence 
of their institution by a public exposure of their secret doctrines, 
they freely offered to receive and initiate any person in the confi- 
dence of the magistrates, and who could then "give them infor 
mation upon which they might depend, relative to the true de- 
signs of the institution. The proposal was acceded to, and the 
town clerk was chosen. He was immediately initiated, and his 
report so pleased his superiors, that all the magistrates and pnn- 



PER 349 

cipal persons of the city became members and zealous patrons of 
the order. 

In France, the fear of the authorities that the Freemasons 
concealed, within the recesses of their lodges, designs hostile to 
the government, gave occasion to an attempt, in 1737, on the 
part of the police, to prohibit the meeting of the lodges. But 
this unfavourable disposition did not long continue, and the last 
instance of the interference of the government with the proceed- 
ings of the masonic body, was in June 1745, when the members 
of a lodge, meeting at the Hotel de Soissons, were dispersed, 
their furniture and jewels seized, and the landlord amerced in a 
penalty of three thousand livres. 

The persecutions in Grermany were owing to a singular cause. 
The malice of a few females had been excited by their disap- 
pointed curiosity. A portion of this disposition they succeeded 
in communicating to the Empress, Maria Theresa, who issued an 
order for apprehending all the Masons in Vienna, when assembled 
in their lodges. The measure was, however, frustrated by the 
good sense of the Emperor, Joseph L, who was himself a Mason, 
and exerted his power in protecting his brethren. 

The persecutions of the church in Italy, and other Catholic 
countries, have been the most extensive and most permanent. 
On the 28th of April, 1738, Pope Clement XII. issued the 
famous bull against Freemasons, whose authority is still in ex- 
istence. In this bull, the Roman Pontiff says, " We have learned, 
and public rumor does not permit us to doubt the truth of the 
report, that a certain society has been formed, under the name 
of Freemasons, into which persons of all religions and all sects are 
indiscriminately admitted, and whose members have established 
certain laws which bind themselves to each other, and which, in 
particular, compel their members, under the severest penalties, 
by virtue of an oath taken on the Holy Scriptures, to preserve 
an inviolable secrecy in relation to every thing that passes in 
their meetings. " The bull goes on to declare, that these socie- 
ties have become suspected by the faithful, and that they are 

30 



350 PER 

hurtful to the tranquillity of the state and to the safety of tlwi 
soul ; and after making use of the now thread-bare argument, 
that if the actions of Freemasons were irreproachable, they would 
not so carefully conceal them from the light, it proceeds to 
enjoin all bishops, superiors, and ordinaries, to punish the Free- 
masons " with the penalties which they deserve, as people greatly 
suspected of heresy, having recourse, if necessary, to the secular 
arm/'* 

What this delivery to the secular arm means, we are at no loss 
to discover, from the interpretation given to the bull by Cardinal 
FLrao, in his edict of publication in the beginning of the follow- 
ing year; namely, u that no person shall dare to assemble at any 
lodge of the said society, nor be present at any of their meetings, 
under pain of death, and confiscation of goods, the said penalty 
to be without hope of pardon."*)" 

The bull of Clement met in France with no congenial spirits 
to obey it.. On the contrary, it was the subject of universal 
condemnation as arbitrary and unjust, and the parliament of 
Paris positively refused to enrol it. But in other Catholic coun- 
tries it was better respected. In Tuscany the persecutions were 
unremitting. A man named Crudeli, was arrested at Florence, 
thrown into the dungeons of the inquisition, subjected to torture, 
and finally sentenced to a long imprisonment on the charge of 
having furnished an asylum to a masonic lodge. The Grand 
Lodge of England, upon learning the circumstances, obtained 
his enlargement and sent him pecuniary assistance. Francis de 



* As late as 1802, in Austria, and the Ecclesiastical States, all public func- 
tionaries were compelled, before their installation, to declare upon oath that 
they were not members of the order of Freemasons. 

■j- Clavel gives the original of this most merciful interpretation. I quote it, 
lest the severity of the penalty should throw a doubt upon the correctness of 
my translation, which my Italian readers may easily verify. "Che nessuno 
ardisca di radunarsi e congregarsi e di aggregarsi, in luogo alcuno, sotto le 
$udette societa, ne di trovarsi presente a tali radunanze, sotta pena della moru 
e eonfiscazione de beni, da incorrersi irrenaifibilmente, senza speranza di grazia. 



PER 351 

Lorraine, who had been initiated at the Hague, in 1731, soon 
after ascended the grand ducal throne, and one of the first acts 
of his reign was to liberate all the Masons who had been incai- 
cerated by the inquisition, and still further to evince his respect 
for the order, he personally assisted in the constitution of several 
lodges at Florence, and in other cities of his dominions. 

The other sovereigns of Italy were, however, more obedient to 
the behests of the holy father, and persecutions continued to 
rage throughout the peninsula. Nevertheless, masonry continued 
to flourish, and in 1751, thirteen years after the emission of the 
bull of prohibition, lodges were openly in existence in Tuscany, 
at Naples, and even in the " eternal city" itself. 

The priesthood, whose vigilance had abated under the influence 
of time, became once more alarmed, and an edict was issued in 
1751, by Benedict XIV., who then occupied the papal chair, 
renewing and enforcing the bull which had been fulminated by 
Clement. 

This, of course, renewed the spirit of persecution. In Spain, 
one Tournon, a Frenchman, was convicted of practising the rites 
of masonry, and after a tedious confinement in the dungeons of 
the inquisition, he was finally banished from the kingdom. 

In Portugal, at Lisbon, John Coustos, a native of Switzerland, 
was still more severely treated. He was subjected to the torture, 
and suffered so much that he was unable to move his limbs for 
three months. Coustos, with two companions of his reputed 
crime, was sentenced to the galleys, but was finally released by 
the interposition of the English ambassador. The work of Cous- 
tos, in which he recounts the circumstances of his imprisonment 
and trial, is now before me, and the details of the tortures to 
which he was subjected, in the hope of extorting the secrets of 
masonry from him, inspire the most tender pity for his suffer- 
ings, and the most unqualified admiration of his fortitude and 
fidelity. 

But the persecutions of the order were not confined to Ca- 
tholic countries. In 1745, the Council of Berne, in Switzerland, 



352 PER— PET 

issued a decree prohibiting under the severest penalties, the ap 
semblages of Freemasons. In 1757, in Scotland, the Synod of 
Sterling adopted a resolution debarring all adhering Freemasons 
from the ordinances of religion. And, as if to prove that fanati- 
cism is everywhere the same, in 1748 the Divan at Constanti- 
nople caused a masonic lodge to be demolished, its jewels and 
furniture seized, and its members arrested. They were dis- 
charged upon the interposition of the English minister, but the 
government prohibited the introduction of the order into Turkey. 
Our own country has not been free from the blighting influ- 
ence of this demon of fanaticism. But the exciting scenes of 
anti-masonry are too recent to be treated by the historian with 
coolness or impartiality. The political party to which this spirit 
of persecution gave birth, was the most abject in its principles, and 
the most unsuccessful in its efforts, of any that our times have 
seen. It has passed away; the clouds of anti-masonry have been, 
we trust, forever dispersed, and the bright sun of masonry, once 
more emerging from its temporary eclipse, is beginning to bless 
our land with the invigorating heat and light of its meridian rays. 

PERSIAN PHILOSOPHIC RITE. A rite attempted to be 
established in France about the year 1819. It consisted of seven 
degrees, as follows : — 1, Listening Apprentice ; 2, Fellow-Craft 
Adept, Esquire of Benevolence ; 3, Master, Knight of the Sun ; 

4, Architect of all rites, Knight of the philosophy of the heart ; 

5, Knight of eclecticism and of truth; 6, Master Good Shepherd; 
7, Venerable Grand Elect. This rite never contained many mem- 
bers, and is now abolished. 

PETITION. When a new lodge is about to be formed, ap- 
plication to the Grand Lodge, within whose jurisdiction it is 
situated, must be made in the form of petition. The petition must 
be signed by at least seven Master Masons, and the masonic and 
moral character of the petitioners certified by one or more well 
known brethren. Petitions to a Grand Chapter for the formation 



PHA 353 

of Chapters of Royal Arcli Masons, require the signature of nine 
companions; and for Commanderies of Knights Templars and the 
appendant orders, the application to the Grand Commandery must 
be made by nine knights. 

PHALLUS. (Greek <paUoq.) The phallus was the wooden 
image of the membrum virile, which beiug affixed to a pole, 
formed a part of most of the pagan mysteries, and was worship- 
ped as the emblem of the male generative principle. The phallic 
worship was first established in Egypt, The origin of its insti- 
tution was this. After the murder of Osiris, and the mutilation 
of the body by Typhon, Isis was enabled to recover all the parts 
of his body except the privities. To this part, therefore, in com- 
memoration of its loss, she paid particular honour. The phallus, 
its representation, was made of wood, and carried during the sa- 
cred festivals in the mysteries of Osiris, as the emblem of fecun- 
dity. It was held by the people in the greatest veneration, and 
the sight or mention of it produced in the minds of the ancients 
no impure or lascivious thoughts. From Egypt it was introduced 
into Greece, and its exhibition formed a part of the Dionysian 
mysteries. In the Indian mysteries, it was called the linyam, 
and was always found in the most holy place of the temple. It 
was adopted by the idolatrous Israelites, who took it from the 
Moabites when in the wilderness of Sin, under the name of Baal- 
penr.* In short, the veneration of the phallus, under different 
names, was common to all the nations of antiquity. We shall 
again have occasion to refer to it, in the article on the Point 
within a Circle, with which masonic emblem the phallus has been 
identified by Dr. Oliver in an elaborate chapter in his " Signs and 
Symbols. " The masonic explanation, however, it will hereafter 
be perceived, bears no longer any allusion to the solar orb, or 
great principle of fecundity, except in its form 3, a figure still 



* Cumberland says Baal-petaor in the Chaldaic signifies the naked god. and 
is equivalent to the Reman deity Priapus. 

30* 



354 PHI 

retained by astronomers as the representation of the sun. See 
Point within a Circle. 

PHILALETHES, RITE OF THE. The rite of the Philale- 
thes or Searchers after Truth, was invented in the lodge of Amis 
Reunis at Paris, in 1775, by Savalette de Langes, Keeper of the 
Royal Treasury. It was compounded of the masonic reveries of 
Swedenburg and Paschalis, and was distributed into twelve classes 
or chambers of instruction. The names of these classes or degrees 
were as follows: — 1, Apprentice; 2, Fellow Craft; 3, Master; 4, 
Elect; 5, Scotch Master; 6, Knight of the East; 7, Rose Croix; 
8, Knight of the Temple; 9, Unknown Philosopher; 10, Sublime 
Philosopher ; 11, Initiate ; 12, Philalethes or Searcher after 
Truth. The first six degrees were called Petty, and the last six 
High Masonry. The rite existed only during the life of de 
Langes; at his death in 1788, it ceased to exist, and the lodge 
of Amis Reunis was dissolved. 

PHILOSOPHICAL DEGREES. All the degrees above the 
Rose Croix obtain this appellation. They are so called because 
they are particularly directed to the philosophical explanation of 
the system of masonry, which, in the inferior degrees, receives a 
moral signification. They are not to be confounded with the 
philosophical orders which arose on the continent of Europe about 
the close of the eighteenth century, and whose tendency, in many 
instances, was towards natural religion or deism. Barruel and 
Robinson, however, have confounded them, and on this error have 
based many, if not all, of their false charges against Freemasonry. 

PHILOSOPHIC LODGE. The degree of Knights of the 
Sun is sometimes thus styled. 

PHILOSOPHIC SCOTCH RITE.— Rite icossais philoso- 
phique. In the year 1770, one Pernetti founded a rite of Free- 
masonry, which he called the "Hermetic rite," but which was 



PIC— PIL 355 

rather an alchemical than a masonic society, for its object was, by 
symbolic lessons, to instruct its disciples in the art of transmuting 
metals, aDd preparing the elixir of life. One of Pernetti's most 
ingenious disciples was a physician of Paris, named Boileau. He 
modified the system of the Hermetic rite, gave it a more purely 
masonic character and established its practice in one of the lodges 
of Paris, under the name of the "Philosophic Scotch Rite." The 
two rites were subsequently united, and the Grand Lodge was 
established in 1776, at Paris. It consists of twelve degrees, as 
follows : 1, 2, 3, Knight of the Black Eagle, or Rose Croix, di- 
vided into three parts ; 4, Knight of the Phoenix j 5, Knight of 
the Sun j 6, Knight of Iris ; 7, Freemason ; 8, Knight of the 
Argonauts ; 9, Knight of the Golden Fleece; 10, Grand Inspec- 
tor, Perfect Initiate; 11, Grand Inspector, Grand Scotch Mason; 
12, Sublime Master of the Luminous Ring. The three degrees 
of ancient Craft Masonry are necessary pre-requisites, though they 
do not form a part of the rite. It is still practised in France, but 
to a very limited extent. 

We may form some notion of the masonic doctrine taught in 
this rite, from the name of the degree which is at its summit. 
The "Luminous Ring" is a Pythagorean degree. In 1780 an 
Academy of the Sublime Masters of the Luminous Ring was 
established in France, in which the doctrine was taught that 
Freemasonry was originally founded by Pythagoras, and in which 
the most important portion of the lectures consisted of an expla- 
nation of the peculiar doctrines of the sage of Samos. We may, 
therefore, presume that the same doctrines were taught in the rite 
under examination. 

PICKAXE. One of the working tools of a Royal Arch 
Mason. For its emblematic signification see Shovel. 

PILGRIM'S SHELL. The shell was an Ancient symbol of 
the Syrian Goddess Astarte, who was the same as the Venus 
Pelagia, or Venus rising from the sea, of the western mythology. 



356 PIL 

The escalop or scollop shell (the Pecten of Linnaeus) is found in 
great abundance on the shores of the Mediterranean, and was 
worn in the time ^f the Crusades by pilgrims to the Holy Land / 
as a Memorial of the pious pilgrimage they were then perform 
ing or had already accomplished. Thus Shakspeare makes 
Ophelia sing : 

" And how should I thy true love know, 
From any other one ? 
! by his scollop shell and staff, 
And by his sandal shoon." 

Hence the scollop shell, staff and sandals, form a part of the 
costume of a candidate in the ceremonies of the Templar's de- 



PILLAR. In the earliest times it was customary to perpetu- 
ate remarkable events, or exhibit gratitude for providential fa- 
vours, by the erection of pillars, which by the idolatrous races 
were dedicated to their spurious gods. Thus Sanconiatho tells us 
that Hypsourianos and Ousous, who lived before the flood, dedi- 
cated two pillars to the elements, fire and air. Among the 
Egyptians the pillars were, in general, in the form of obelisks, 
from 50 to 100 feet high, and exceedingly slender in proportion. 
Upon their four sides, hieroglyphics were often engraved. Ac- 
cording to Herodotus, they were first raised in honour of the 
sun, and their pointed form was intended to represent his rays. 
Many of these monuments still remain. 

In the antediluvian ages, the posterity of Seth erected pillars ; 
" for," says the Jewish historian, " that their inventions might 
not be lost before they were sufficiently known, upon Adam's 
prediction, that the world was to be destroyed at one time by the 
force of fire, and at another time by the violence of water, they 
made two pillars, the one of brick, the other of stone ; they in- 
scribed their discoveries on them both, that in case the pillar of 
brick should be destroyed by the flood, the pillar of stone might 
remain, and exhibit those discoveries to mankind, and also inform 



PIL 357 

tli em that there was another pillar of brick erected by them."* 
Jacob erected a pillar at Bethel, to commemorate his remarkable 
vision of the ladder, and afterwards another one at G-aleed as a 
memorial of his alliance with Laban. Joshua erected one at 
Gilgal to perpetuate the remembrance of his miraculous crossing 
of the Jordan. Samuel set up a pillar between Mizpeh and 
Shen, on account of a defeat of the Philistines, and Absalom 
erected another in honour of himself. 

PILLARS OF THE POUCH. The pillars most remarkable 
in Scripture history, were the two erected by Solomon at the 
porch of the Temple, and which Josephus thus describes : 
"Moreover, this Hiram made two hollow pillars, whose outsides 
were" of brass, and the thickness of the brass was four fingers 
breadth, and the height of the pillars was eighteen cubits, (27 
feet,) and the circumference twelve cubits, (18 feet;) but there 
was cast with each of their chapiters, lily work, that stood upon 
the pillar, and it was elevated five cubits, (7 i feet,) round about 
which there was net work interwoven with small palms made of 
brass, and covered the lily work. To this also were hung two 
hundred pomegranates, in two rows. The one of these pillars 
he set at the entrance of the porch on the right hand, (or south,') 
and called it Jachin, and the other at the left hand, (or north,) 
and called it Boaz." 

It has been supposed that Solomon, in erecting these pillars, 
had reference to the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire which 
went before the Israelites in the wilderness, and that the right 
hand or south pillar represented the pillar of cloud, and the left 
hand or north pillar represented that of fire. Solomon did not 
simply erect them as ornaments to the temple, but as memorials 
of Grod's repeated promises of support to his people of Israel 

* Joseph. Antiq. lib. 1. c. ii. Josephus says this pillar in his time was still 
remaining in the land of Siriad; but Winston supposes the pillar thus referred 
to, to have been erected by Sesostris, King of Egypt. 



358 PIL 

For the pillar Vy (Jaehin,) derived from the words JT (Jah,) 
"Jehovah," and p^> (iachin) "will establish," signifies that 
"God will establish his house of Israel;" while the pillar iy2 
(Boaz) compounded of 3 (&,) "in" and )y (oaz,) "strength," 
signifies, that " in strength shall it be established." And thus 
were the Jews, in passing through tbe porch to the temple, daily 
reminded of the abundant promises of God, and inspired with 
confidence in his protection and gratitude for his many acts of 
kindness to his chosen people. 

The construction of these pillars. — There is no part of the ar- 
chitecture of the ancient temple which is so difficult to be under- 
stood in its details, as the Scriptural account of these memorable 
pillars. Freemasons, in general, intimately as their symbolical 
signification is connected with some of the most beautiful por- 
tions of their ritual, appear to have but a confused notion of 
their construction and of the true disposition of the various 
parts of which they are composed. With a view to relieve this 
subject from some of the difficulties which surround it, I, some 
time since, published an essay on these pillars in Moore's Maga- 
zine ; and as that essay contained all the results of a rather labo- 
rious investigation, I shall transfer so much of it as is appropri- 
ate to the present article. 

The situation of these pillars, according to Lightfoot,* was 
within the porch, at its very entrance and on each side of the 
gate. They were therefore seen, one on the right, and the other 
on the left, as soon as the visitor stepped within the porch. f 
And this, it will be remembered, in confirmation, is the very 
spot in which Ezekiel places the pillars that he saw in his vision 
of the Temple. "The length of the porch was twenty cubits, 

* See his treatise entitled "a Prospect of the Temple." 

f If this position he the correct one, and Lightfoot supports the hypothesis 
by strong arguments, then Oliver, as well as most of our lecturers, is wrong 
in the statement that the pillars were placed before the porch of the temple, 
and must have been passed before entering it. See Oliver's Landmarks, voL 
1., p. 451. 



PIL 359 

and the brea 1th eleven cubits 3 and lie brought me by the stop3 
whereby they went up to it, and there were pillars by the posts, 
one on this side, and another on that side."* 

These pillars, we are told, were of brass, as well as the chapi- 
tars that surmounted them, and were cast hollow. The thickness 
of the brass of each pillar was "four fingers, or a hand's 
breadth," which is equal to three inches. According to the ac- 
counts in 1 Kings viii. 15, and in Jeremiah lii. 21, the circum- 
ference of each pillar was twelve cubits. Now, according to the 
Jewish computation, the cubit used in the measurement of the 
temple buildings was six hands' breadth, or eighteen inches. 
According to the tables of Bishop Cumberland, the cubit was 
rather more, he making it about twenty-two inches ; but I adhere 
to the measure laid down by the Jewish writers, as probably 
more correct, and certainly more simple for calculation. The 
circumference of each pillar, reduced by this scale to English 
measure, would be eighteen feet, and its diameter about six. 

The reader of the Scriptural accounts of these pillars will be 
not a little puzzled with the apparent discrepancies that are found 
m the estimates of their height as given in the Books of Kings 
and Chronicles. In the former book, it is said that their height 
was eighteen cubits, and in the latter it was thirty-five. f But 
the discrepancy is easily reconciled by supposing, which, indeed, 
must have been the case, that in the Book of Kings the pillars 
are spoken of separately, and that, in Chronicles, their aggregate 
height is calculated; and the reason why, in this latter book, 
their united height is placed at thirty-five cubits instead of 
thirty-six, which would be the double of eighteen, is because 
they are there measured as they appeared with the chapiters 
upon them. Now half a cubit of each pillar was concealed in, 
what Lightfnot calls "the hole of the chapiter," that is, half a 



* Bzekiel, xi. 49. 

f "VVhiston observes that the latter height would be contrary to all the rules 
>f architecture. 



360 PIL 

cubits's depth of the lower edge of the chapiter covered the top 
of the pillar, making each pillar, apparently, only seventeen and 
a half cubits high, or the two thirty-five cubits, as laid down in 
the Book of Chronicles. 

This is a much better method of reconciling the discrepancy 
han that adopted by Calcott,* who supposes that the pedestals 
of the pillars were seventeen cubits high — a violation of every 
rule of architectural proportion with which we would be reluc- 
tant to charge the memory of so " cunning a workman" as 
Hiram the Builder. The account in Jeremiah agrees with that 
in the Book of Kings. The height, therefore, of each of these 
pillars was, in English measure, twenty-seven feet. The chapiter 
or pomel was five cubits, or seven and a half feet more ; but as 
half a cubit, or nine inches, was common to both pillar and 
chapiter, the whole height from the ground to the top of the 
chapiter was twenty-two cubits and a half, or thirty-three feet 
and nine inches. 

Each of these pillars was surmounted by a chapiter, which 
was five cubits or seven and a half feet in height. The shape 
and construction of this chapiter requires some consideration. 
The Hebrew word which is used in this place is jinjlID, (kote- 
ret.) Its root is to be found in the word "IfO, (kcter,) which 
signified " a crown/' and is so used in Esther vi. 8., to desig- 
nate the royal diadem of the King of Persia. The Chaldaic ver- 
sion expressly calls the chapiter " a crown," but Rabbi Solomon, 
in his commentary, uses the word VftliD? (pomcl J s ) signifying 
"a globe or spherical body," and Rabbi Gershora describes it as 
" like two crowns joined together." Lightfoot says, " it was a 
huge, great oval, five cubits high, and did not only sit upon the 
head of the pillars, but also flowered or spread them, being 
larger about, a great deal, than the pillars themselves." The 
Jewish commentator 3 say that the two lower cubits of its surface 



Calcott's Masonry, p. 151. 



PIL 301 

were entirely plain, but that the three upper were richly orna- 
mented. To this ornamental part we now arrive. 

In the first Book of Kings, ch. vii. verses 17, 20, 22, the 
ornaments of the chapiters are thus described : 

"And nets of checker-work and wreaths of chain work, for the 
chapiters which were upon the tops of the pillars; seven for the 
one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter. 

"And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon 
the one net-work, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, 
with pomegranates ; and so did he for the other chapiter. 

" And the chapiters that were upon the tops of the pillars were 
of lily work in the porch, four cubits. 

"And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates 
also above, over against the belly, which was by the net work ; 
and the pomegranates were two hundreds in rows, round about 
upon the other chapiter. 

" And upon the top of the pillars was lily work ; so was the 
work of the pillars finished. " 

Let us endeavour to render this description, which appears 
somewhat confused and unintelligible, plainer and more compre- 
hensible. 

The "nets of checker-work," is the first ornament mentioned. 
The words thus translated are in the original ^llul/D DODu* 
rODt^; which Lightfoot prefers rendering "thickets of branch 
work;" and he thinks that the true meaning of the passage is, 
that " the chapiters were curiously wrought with branch work, 
seven goodly branches standing up from the belly of the oval, 
and their boughs and leaves curiously and lovelily intermingled 
and interwoven one with another." He derives his reason for 
this version, from the fact that the same word, UDDCS i s trans- 
lated, " thicket" in the passage in Genesis (xxii. 13,) where the 
ram is described as being " caught in a thicket by his horns," 
and in various other passages the word is to be similarly trans- 
lated. But, on the other hand, we find it used in the Book of 
Job, where it evidently s r °nifies a net made of meshes: " Fcr 

31 



362 PIL 

he is cast into a net by his own feet and he walketh upon a 
.snare." Job xvii. 8. In 2 Kings i. 2, the same word is used, 
inhere our translators have rendered it a lattice; " Ahaziah fell 
down through a lattice in his upper chamber." I am, therefore, 
not inclined to adopt the emendation of Lightfoot, but rather 
coincide with the received version as well as the masonic tradi- 
tion that this ornament was a simple net-work or fabric consisting 
of reticulated lines. 

The " wreaths of chain work" that are next spoken of, are less 
difficult to be understood. The word here translated "wreath," 
is CD* /*iJ> and is to be found in Deuteronomy xxii. 12, where it 
distinctly means fringes: "Thou shalt make thee fringes upon 
the four quarters of thy vesture." Fringes, it should also be 
translated here. " The fringes of chain work," I suppose, were, 
therefore, attached to, and hung down from, the net-work spoken 
of above, and were probably in this case, as when used upon the 
garments of the Jewish high priest, intended as a " memorial of 
the law." 

The " lily work," is the last ornament that demands our at- 
tention. And here the description of Lightfoot is so clear and 
evidently correct, that I shall not hesitate to quote it at length. 
"At the head of the pillar, even at the setting on of the chapi- 
ter, there was a curious and a large border or circle of lily work, 
which stood out four cubits under the chapiter, and then turned 
down, every lily or long tongue of brass, with a neat bending, 
and so seemed as a flowered crown to the head of the pillar, and 
as a curious garland whereon the chapiter had its seat." 

There is a very common error among Masons, which has been 
fostered by the plates in our " Monitors," that there were on the 
pillars, chapiters, and that these chapiters were again surmounted 
by globes. The truth, however, is that the chapiters themselves 
were " the pomels or globes" to which our lecture, in the Fellow 
Craft's degree, alludes. This is evident from what has already 
been said in the first part of the preceding description. The 



PLA 303 

maps of the earth and the charts of the celestial constellations 
which are sometimes said to have been engraved upon these 
globes, must be referred to the pillars where, according to Oliver, 
a masonic tradition places them — an ancient custom, instances 
of which we find in profane history. This is, however, by nc 
means of any importance, as the symbolic allusion is perfectly 
well preserved in the shapes of the chapiters, without the neces- 
sity of any such geographical or astronomical engraving upon 
them. For being globular, or nearly so, they may be justly said 
to have represented the celestial and terrestrial spheres. 

The true description, then, of these memorable pillars, is sim- 
ply this. Immediately within the porch of the temple, and on 
each side of the door, were placed two hollow brazen pillars. 
The height of each was twenty-seven feet, the diameter about 
six feet, and the thickness of the brass three inches. Above the 
pillar, and covering its upper part to the depth of nine inches, 
was an oval body or chapiter, seven feet and a half in height. 
Springing out from the pillar, at the junction of the chapiter 
with it, was a row of lily petals, which, first spreading around 
the chapiter, afterwards gently curved downwards towards the 
pillar, something like the Acanthus leaves on the capital of a 
Corinthian column. About two-fifths of the distance from the 
bottom of the chapiter, or just below its most bulging part, a 
tissue of net-work was carved, which extended over its whole 
upper surface. To the bottom of this net-work was suspended a 
series of fringes, and on these again were carved two rows of 
pomegranates, one hundred being in each row. 

This description, it seems to me, is the only one that can be 
reconciled with the various passages in the Books of Kings, 
Chronicles and Jeremiah, which relate to these pillars, and the 
only one that can give the masonic student a correct conception 
of the architecture of these important symbols 

PLATONIC ACADEMY. A society instituted at Florence, 
in 1480. The hall in which its meetings were held still exists, 



364 PLE— PLU 

and is said to be ornamented with masonic emblems. Clave! 
supposes it to have been a society founded by some of the hono- 
rary members and patrons of the fraternity of Freemasons who 
existed in the Middle Ages, and who, having abandoned the ma- 
terial design of the institution, confined themselves to its mystic 
character. If his suggestion be correct, this is one of the 
earliest instances of the separation of speculative from operative 
masonry. 

PLENTY. The ear of corn is the masonic symbol of plenty, 
and was derived, as nearly all the masonic symbols have been, 
from the ancient system of symbolism. According to Montfau- 
con, ears of corn always accompanied the images of the goddess 
Plenty in the ancient gems and medals, of which he gives 
several examples. The Hebrew word Shibboleth signifies an ear 
of corn. 

PLUMB. An instrument made use of, by operative masons, 
for the purpose of erecting perpendicular lines, and which, in 
speculative masonry, constitutes one of the working tools of the 
Fellow-Craft. As the building which is not erected on a perpen- 
dicular line, but leans either one way or the other, becomes inse- 
cure, and must eventually fall, by the force of gravity, to the 
ground, so he, whose life is not supported by an upright course 
of conduct, but whose principles are swayed by the uncertain 
dictates of interest or passion, cannot long sustain a worthy repu- 
tation, and must soon sink beneath the estimation of every good 
and virtuous citizen. But the just, the upright, the unwavering 
man, who bends not -beneath the attacks of adversity, nor yields 
to the temptations of prosperity, but still pursues the " even 
tenor of his way," will stand erect amid the fiercest tempests of 
fortune, and, like a tall column, lift his head above the frowns of 
envy and the slanders of malignity. To the man thus just and 
upright, the sacred Scriptures attribute as necessary parts of his 
character, kindness and liberality, temperance and moderation. 



POI 365 

truth and wisdom ; and the heathen poet, Horace, pays, in one 
of his most admired odes, an eloquent tribute to his stern immu- 
tability. 

The man in conscious virtue bold, 
Who dares his secret purpose hold, 
Unshaken hears the crowd's tumultuous cries 
And the impetuous tyrant's angry brow defies. 
Let the loud winds that rule the seas, 
Their wild tempestuous horrors raise ,• 
Let Jove's dread arm with thunders rend the spheres ; 
Beneath the crush of worlds undaunted he appears.* 

[Francis. 

The plumb is also the jewel of the Junior Warden, and it 
seems here symbolically to instruct us, as the authority of this 
officer is exercised only in time of refreshment, when the brethren 
having ceased to labour, are no longer within the sacred precincts 
of the lodge room, that then more particularly, when the eyes of 
a censorious ivorld are upon him, should the Mason walk up- 
rightly and eschew evil.y 

POINTS OF FELLOWSHIP. The pentalpha, or triple tri- 



* Justum et tenacem propositi virum 

Non civium ardor prava jubentium, 

Non vultus instantis tyranni 

Mente quatit solido, neque Auster 

Dux inquieti turbidus Adriae : 

Nee fulminantis magna Jovis manus. 

Si fractus illabatur oi-bis 

, Impavidum ferient ruinse. 

[Hor. lib. iii. od. 3. 

f It is worthy of notice that, in most languages, .the word which is used in 

a direct sense to indicate straightness of course or perpendicularity of position, 

is also employed in a figurative sense to express uprightness of conduct. 

Such are the Latin " rectum," which signifies at the same time a right line and 

honesty or integrity ; the Greek 'opSog which means straight, standing upright, 

and also equitable, just, true ; and the Hebrew tsedek, which in a physical 

sense denotes rightness, straightness, and in a moral, what is right and just. 

Our own word RIGHT, partakes f this peculiarity, right being not wrong, as 

well as not crooked. 

31* 



366 POI 

angle, was among the Pythagoreans the emblem of health, be- 
cause it constituted a figure of five lines and five points; among 
Masons, in the form of a five-pointed star, it has been adopted as 
the symbol of the most sacred principles of their profession. 
See Five Points of Fellowship, and Star. 

POINTS, TWELVE GRAND. See Twelve Grand Points. 

POINT WITHIN A CIRCLE. This emblem is to be found 
in every well regulated lodge, and is explained as representing — 
the point, the individual brother, and the circle, the boundary 
line of his duty. But that this was not always its symbolic sig- 
nification, we may collect from the true history of its connection 
with the phallus of the ancient mysteries. The phallus, as I 
have already shown, under the word, was among the Egyptians 
the symbol of fecundity, expressed by the male generative prin- 
ciple. It was communicated from the rites of Osiris to the reli- 
gious festivals of Greece. Among the Asiatics the same emblem, 
under the name of lingam, was, in connection with the female 
principle, worshipped as the symbols of the Great Father and 
Mother, or producing causes of the human race, after their de- 
struction by the deluge. On this subject, Captain Wilford re- 
marks " that it was believed in India, that, at the general deluge, 
every thing was involved in the common destruction, except the 
male and female principles, or organs of generation, which were 
destined to produce a new race, and to re-people the earth when 
the waters had subsided from its surface. The female principle, 
symbolized by the moon, assumed the form of a lunette or cres- 
cent ; while the male principle, symbolized by the sun, assuming 
the form of the lingam, placed himself erect in the centre of the 
lunette, like the mast of a ship. The two principles, in this 
united form, floated on the surface of the waters during the pe- 
riod of their prevalence on the earth ; and thus became the pro- 
genitors of a new race of men."* Here, then, was the first 

* Asiat. Researches, cit. apud Oliver, Signs and Symbols, 180. 



P01 367 

outline of the point within a circle, representing the principle of 
fecundity, and doubtless the syrnbo., connected with a different 
history, that, namely, of Osiris, was transmitted by the Indian 
philosophers to Egypt, and to the other nations, who derived, as 
we have elsewhere shown, all their rites from the East. 

As an evidence of this, we find the same symbol in the Dru- 
idical and Scandinavian rites. The temples of the Druids were 
circular, with a single stone erected in the centre. A Druidical 
monument in Pembrokeshire, called Y Cromlech, is described as 
consisting of several rude stones pitched on end in a circular 
order, and in the midst of the circle a vast stone placed on several 
pillars. Near Keswick, in Cumberland, says Oliver, is another 
specimen of this Druidical symbol. On a hill stands a circle of 
forty stones placed perpendicularly, of about five feet and a half 
in height, and one stone in the centre of greater altitude.* 

Among the Scandinavians, the hall of Odin contained twelve 
seats, disposed in the form of a circle for the principal gods, 
with an elevated seat in the centre for Odin. Scandinavian mo- 
numents of this form are still to be found in Scania, Zealand, and 
Jutland. f 

But it is useless to multiply examples of the prevalence of this 
symbol among the ancients. And now let us apply this knowledge 
to the masonic symbol. 

We have seen that the phallus, and the point within a circle, 
come from the same source, and must have been identical in sig- 
nification. . But the phallus was the symbol of fecundity, or the 
male generative principle, which by the ancients was supposed to 
be the sun, (they looking to the creature and not to the Creator,) 
because by the sun's heat and light, the earth is made prolific, 
and its productions are brought to maturity. The point within 
the circle was then originally the symbol of the sun, and as the 
lingam of India stood in the centre of the lunette, so it stands 
within the centre of the Universe, typified by the circle impreg- 

* Signs and Symbols, 174. f Mallet's Northern Antiquities. 



368 POM 

nating and vivifying it with its heat. And thus the astronomers 
have been led to adopt the same figure 0, as their symbol of that 
luminary.* 

The present signification of the point, within the circle, among 
Masons, is doubtless comparatively modern, and has superseded 
the original meaning of this symbol. 

POMEGRANATE. The pomegranate,, as an emblem, was 
known to and highly esteemed by the nations of antiquity. In 
the description of the pillars which stood at the porch of the tem- 
ple, (see 1 Kings vii. 15,) it is said that the artificer "made two 
chapiters of molten brass to set upon the tops of the pillars." 
Now the Hebrew word caphtorim, which has been translated 
" chapiters," and for which in Amos ix. 1, the word " lintel" 
has been incorrectly substituted, (though the marginal reading 
corrects the error,) signifies an artificial large pomegranate, or 
globe. -\ It was customary to place such ornaments upon the tops 
or heads of columns, and in other situations. The skirt of Aaron's 
robe was ordered to be decorated with golden bells and pome- 
granates, and they were among the ornaments fixed upon the 
golden candelabra. There seems, therefore, to have been attached 
to this fruit some mystic signification, to which it is indebted for 
the veneration thus paid to it. If so, this mystic meaning should 
be traced into spurious Freemasonry; for there, after all, if there 
be any antiquity in our order, we shall find the parallel of all its 
rites and ceremonies. 

1. The Syrians at Damascus worshipped an idol which they 



* Fellowes, giving an ancient astronomical signification to this symbol, says 
that the point was Deity, the circle the path of the sun, and the two parallels 
the solstices, beyond which the sun cannot pass. 

■f* Vid. Cumberland Origines Gent. Antiq. tract. II § ii. p. 54. The original 
moaning is not preserved in the Septuagint, which has (npaipcorrip, nor in the 
Vulgate which uses "sphgerula," both meaning simuly "a round ball." Bui 
Josephus, in his Antiquities, has kept to the literal Hebrew. 



POM 369 

called Bimmon. This was the same idol that was worshipped by 
Naaman before his conversion, as recorded in the second book of 
Kings. The learned have not been able to agree as to the nature 
of this idol, whether he was a representation of Helios or the Sun, 
the god of the Phenicians, or of Venus, or according to G-rotius, 
in his commentary on the passage in Kings, of Saturn, or what, 
according to Statius, seems more probable, of Jupiter Cassius. 
But it is sufficient for our present purpose to know that Rimmon 
is the Hebrew and Syriac for pomegranate. 

2. Cumberland, the learned Bishop of Peterborough, quotes 
Achilles Statius, a converted pagan and Bishop of Alexandria, 
as saying that on Mount Cassius, (which Bochart places between 
Canaan and Egypt,) there was a temple wherein Jupiter's image 
held a pomegranate in his hand, which Statius goes on to say, 
" had a mystical meaning."* Sanconiatho thinks this temple 
was built by the descendants of the Cabiri. Cumberland attempts 
to explain this mystery thus : " Agreeably hereunto I guess that 
the pomegranate in the hand of Jupiter or Juno, (because when 
it is opened, it discloses a great number of seeds) signified only, 
that those deities were, being long-lived, the parents of a great 
many children, and families that soon grew into nations which 
they planted in large possessions, when the world was newly 
begun to be peopled, by giving them laws and other useful inven- 
tions to make their lives comfortable." 

3. Pausanias (Corinthiaca, p. 59) says, he saw not far from 
the ruins of Mycenae, an image of Juno holding in one hand a 
sceptre, and in the other a pomegranate; but he likewise declines 
assigning any explanation of the emblem, merely declaring that 
it was a7zoppT)TOT£po(; Xoyoq — " a forbidden mystery." That' is, one 
which was forbidden by the Cabiri to be divulged. 

4. In the festival of the Thesmophoria, observed in honour of the 
goddess Ceres, it was held unlawful for the celebrants (who were 
women to eat the pomegranate. Clemens Alexandrinus assigns 



* Cumberland Orig. Gent. Ant. p. 60. 



370 POM— POU 

as a reason, that it was supposed that this fruit sprang from the 
blood of Bacchus. 

The coincidences in the pagan mysteries with respect to this 
emblem, might, doubtless, be extended still further, but I have 
neither time nor opportunity to pursue the research. I am, 
however, content, if by these few illustrations I have added another 
to the many already existing proofs of the antiquity as well as the 
beauty, of our beloved order. 

POMEL. A round knob ; a term applied to the globes or 
balls on the top of the pillars which stood at the porch of Solo- 
mon's Temple. 

PONTIFES. The Frhres Pontifes were a religious and ope- 
rative community established at Avignon, in Italy, in 1178. They 
devoted themselves to the construction of stone bridges. They 
existed in the Duchy of Lucca as late as 1590. Their presiding 
officer was styled M agister or Master. John de Medicis was 
Master of the order in 1560. 

POT OF INCENSE. The " sweet smelling savour" of fra- 
grant herbs, has, among all nations and modes of worship, been 
considered an acceptable offering, in sacrifice to the Deity, as 
an evidence of the desire of the worshipper to honour and please 
the object of his adoration. Masonry, however, like Christianity, 
instructs us, that the most pleasing incense that can be offered to 
the great I AM, is the incense of a grateful and pious heart. 
Hence, the pot of incense, with a view to remind us of this truth, 
has been adopted as an emblem in the third degree. 

POURSUIVANT. In former times, a messenger who at- 
tended upon the king in the army ; among Masons, an officer in 
some Grand Lodges, whose principal duty is to announce the 
names of visitors. 



PRA— PRI 371 

PRAYER. All the ceremonies of our order are prefaced and 
terminated with prayer, because masonry is a religious institution, 
and because we thereby show our dependence on, and our faith 
and trust in God. 

PRECEDENCY OF LODGES. The precedency of lodges is 
always derived from the date of their Warrants of Constitution, 
the oldest lodge ranking as No. 1. 

PRELATE. The fourth officer in a Commandery of Knight 
Templars in this country. His duties are important, and well 
known to all knights. He is seated on the right of the Gene- 
ralissimo in the East. His jewel is a triple triangle, as the em- 
blem of Jehovah, and his title is " Most Excellent/' 

PRIEST HIGH. See High Priest. 

PRIMITIVE RITE OF NARBONNE. A rite established 
at Narbonne, in France, in 1780. Most of its degrees were taken 
from the other rites. The rite was philosophical, and assumed, 
as its object, the reformation of intellectual man and his restora- 
tion to his primitive rank and privileges. 

PRIMITIVE SCOTCH RITE. Rite ecossais primitif. A 
rite founded on the rite of Perfection, and established at Nainur, 
in Belgium, by a brother Marchot, an advocate at Nivelles. It 
never extended far beyond the walls of the city in which it was 
organized It is still practised in Belgium, and its principal seat 
is at Namur, in the lodge of " Bonne Amitie." It consists of 
thirty-three degrees, as follows: 1, Apprentice; 2, Fellow-Craft; 
3, Master; 4, Perfect Master; 5, Irish Master; 6, Elect of Nine; 
7, Elect of the Unknown; 8, Elect of Fifteen; 9, Illustrious 
Master; 10, Perfect Elect; 11, Minor Architect; 12,- Grand 
Architect; 13, Sublime Architect; 14, Master in Perfect Archi- 
tecture; 15, Royal Arch; 1G, Prussian knight; 17, Knight of 



372 PRI 

the East; 18, Prince of Jerusalem, 19, Master of All Lodges; 
20, Knight of the West; 21, Knight of Palestine; 22, Sovereign 
Prince of Rose Croix ; 23, Sublime Scotch Mason ; 24, Knight 
of the Sun; 25, Grand Scotch Mason of St. Andrew; 26, Master 
of the Secret; 27, Knight of the Black Eagle; 28, Knight of 

K H; 29, Grand Elect of Truth; 30, Novice of the Lite- 

rior; 31, Knight of the Interior; 32, Prefect of the Interior; 33, 
Commander of the Interior. 

PRINCE OF JERUSALEM. Prince de Jerusalem. The 
16th degree in the Ancient Scotch rite. The legend of this 
degree is founded on certain incidents which took place during 
the re-building of the second temple, when the Jews were so 
much incommoded by the attacks of the Samaritans and other 
neighbouring nations, that an embassy was sent to King Darius 
to implore his favour and protection, which was accordingly 
obtained. 

The meetings of this degree are called councils. The officers of 
a council of Princes of Jerusalem are, a Most Equitable, repre- 
senting Zerubbabel, a Senior and Junior Most Enlightened, a 
Grand Treasurer, and Grand Secretary. 

In the Scotch rite, councils of this degree are invested with 
important privileges. They are styled " Chiefs in Freemasonry," 
and have the control of all the subordinate degrees as far as 
the 15th, or Knights of the East, and all charters for the consti- 
tution of lodges, chapters, or councils of any of these degrees, 
must emanate from a council of these princes. Yellow is the 
emblematic colour of the degree, and the jewel is a gold medal, 
on which are inscribed a balance, a two-edged sword, five stars, 
and the letters D and Z. The apron is white, lined and bordered 
with yellow, with a yellow flap, on which is inscribed a balance 
with the same letters that are on the jewel.* 

* The first Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem, in the United States, 
was formed at Charleston, S. C, by three Inspectors, on the 20th February 

1788. 



PRI 373 

PRINCE OF LIBANUS. See Knight of the Royal Axe, 

PRINCE OF MERCY. Prince du Merci. The 26th de- 
gree of the Ancient Scotch rite, sometimes called " Scotch Tri- 
nitarian." This is a philosophical degree, whose ceremonies arc 
very impressive. Its meeting is styled a chapter ; the chief 
prince, whose title is " Most Excellent/' represents Moses. TLe 
Senior Warden represents Aaron, the Junior, Eleazar, and the 
candidate, Joshua. The jewel is a gold equilateral triangle, 
within which is a heart of gold, inscribed with the Hebrew letter 
j"|; one of the symbols of the tetragrammaton. It is suspended 
from a tri-eoloured ribbon of green, white and red. The apron 
is red, bordered with white fringe, and with a blue flap. On the 
flap is painted the jewel. 

It is a Christian degree, and speaks, in the course of its con- 
struction, of the triple covenant which the Eternal made first 
with Abraham by circumcision • next, with the Israelites in the 
wilderness, by the intermediation of Moses ; and lastly, with all 
mankind, by the death and sufferings of Jesus Christ. It is in 
allusion to these three acts of mercy, that the degree derives its 
two names of Scotch Trinitarian and Prince of Mercy, and not. 
as Ragon supposes, from any reference to the Fathers of Mercy. 
a religious society formerly engaged in the ransoming of Christian 
captives at Algiers. 

PRINCE OF ROSE CROIX. Souverairi Prince Pose 
Croix. The degree of Rose Croix is one of the most important 
and generally diffused of the higher degrees of masonry. It is 
to be found in several of the principal rites, and even in those 
in which it does not exist by name, its place is, for the most part, 
supplied by some other whose symbolic allusions do not differ 
materially from it. Thus, although it is not known in the York 
rite, an excellent substitute for it is found in the Royal Arch, 
while it constitutes the 18th degree of the Ancient and Accepted, 
or Scotch rite, the 7th and last of the French rite, and the i7th 

3J 



374 PRI 

of the rite ot Misraim. Among Euro \>ean Masons, where all 
these rites are practised, the degree of Rose Croix is consequently 
well known j and even in this country, although its possession 
is circumscribed to those brethren who have made some advance- 
ment in the Scotch rite, it is so often spoken of, that its name, 
at least, is familiar to almost every Mason of any intelligence, 
and much curiosity is often expressed in relation to its history 
and character. 

The degree is known by various names ; sometimes its posses- 
sors are called " Sovereign Princes of Rose Croix f sometimes 
" Princes of Rose Croix de Heroden •" and sometimes " Knights 
of the Eagle and Pelican." In relation to its origin, masonic 
writers have made many conflicting statements ; some giving it 
a much higher antiquity than others, but all agreeing in suppos- 
ing it to be one of the earliest, if not the very earliest, of the 
higher degrees. The name has, undoubtedly, been the cause of 
much of this confusion in relation to its history, and the ma- 
sonic degree of " Rose Croix" has, perhaps, often been con- 
founded with the cabalistical and alchemical sect of " Rosicru- 
cians," or " Brothers of the Rosy Cross," among whose adepts 
the names of such men as Roger Bacon, Paracelsus, and Elias 
Ashmole, the celebrated antiquary, are to be found. Notwith- 
standing the invidious attempts of Baruell, and other foes of ma- 
sonry, to confound the two orders, there is a great distinction 
between them. Even their names, although somewhat similar in 
sound, are totally different in signification. The Rosicrucians, 
who were alchemists, did not derive their name, like the Rose 
Croix Masons, from the emblems of the rose and cross, for they 
had nothing to do with the rose, but from the Latin ros, signify- 
ing Jew, which was supposed to be of all natural bodies the most 
powerful solvent of gold, and crux, the cross, a chemical hiero- 
glyphic of light. 

Baron Westerode, who wrote in 1784, in the " Acta Latomorum." 
gives the earliest origin of any masonic writer to the degree of 
Rose Croix. He supposes that it was instituted among the 



PKI 375 

Knights Templar in Palestine, in the year 1188, and ne adds 
that Prince Edward, the son of Henry III., of England, was 
admitted into the order by Raymond Lulle, in 1196. Westerode 
names Ormesius, an Egyptian priest, who had been converted to 
Christianity, as its founder. 

Others have attributed the origin of this degree to a learned 
and pious monk, John Valentine Andreae, Abbot of Adelberg, 
who died in 1564, and among whose writings are to be found 
several treatises which relate to this subject.* Ragon says of 
Andreae, that, profoundly grieved at seeing the principles of the 
Christian religion forgotten in vain disputes, and science made 
subservient to the pride of man, instead of contributing to his 
happiness, he passed his days in devising what he supposed to be 
the most appropriate means of restoring each to its legitimate 
moral and benevolent tendency. It may be that with this view 
the eminently Christian degree of Rose Croix was invented by 
him. But notwithstanding the authority of Ragon, sustained as 
it is by that of Nicoki in his work on the " Crimes imputed to 
the Templars," we are inclined to suspect that the labours and 
the writings of the Abbot of Adelberg referred rather to the Rosi- 
crucian alchemists, than to the Rose Croix Masons. 

Other authors have supposed that they could find the origin of 
the Rose Croix, or at least of its emblems, in a book published 
in 1601, by Jacobus Typotus, the historiographer to Rhodolph 
the Second. The book of Typotus, on which rests any claims 
which may be made to his paternity of the Rose Croix degree, is 
entitled " Symbola divina et humana pontijicum,imperatorum, 
rcgi.im," and it is in that part of it which is devoted to the 
" symbol of the holy cross/' that the allusions are found which 
seem to indicate the author's knowledge of this degree. Ragon, 
however, who appears to have seen the work, utterly refutes the 
idea of any connection between the emblems of Typotus and 
those of the Rose Croix. 

* Two especially, one entitled " Judicorum de / itcnu'tate B. C. Chaos,'* 
»nd the other " Noces chemiqucs de Rozen-Crutz." 



376 PRI 

Clavel, with his usual boldness of assertion, which is too often 
independent of facts, declares that the degree was invented by 
the Jesuits for the purpose of countermining the insidious at- 
tacks of the free-thinkers upon the Roman Catholic religion, but 
that the philosophers parried the attempt by seizing upon the 
degree and giving to all its symbols an astronomical signification. 
Clavel's opinion is probably derived from one of those sweeping 
charges of Professor Robison, in which that systematic enemy of 
our institution declares, that about the beginning of the eigh- 
teenth century, the Jesuits interfered considerably with masonry, 
" insinuating themselves into the lodges, and contributing to in- 
crease that religious mysticism that is to be observed in all the 
ceremonies of the order."* But there is no better evidence than 
these mere vague assertions, of the connection of the Jesuits 
with the Rose Croix degree. 

Oliver says that the earliest notice that he finds of this degree, h 
in a publication of 1613, entitled " La Reformation universelle 
du monde entier avec la fama fraternitatis de Y Ordre respectable 
de la Rose Croix. " But he adds, that "it was known much 
sooner, although not probably as a degree in masonry ; for it ex- 
isted as a cabalistic science from the earliest times in Egypt, 
Greece, and Rome, as well as among the Jews and Moors in times 
more recent. "f 

Oliver, however, undoubtedly, in the latter part cf this para- 
graph, confounds the masonic Rose Croix with the alchemical 
Rosicrucians, and the former is singularly inconsistent with the 
details that he gives in another part of his writings respecting an 
order to which we are now about to allude, and which it seems 
probable to us had as much as any other, to do with the institu- 
tion of the degree in question. 

There is a tradition among the Masons of Scotland, that after 
the dissolution of the Templars, many c' the knights repaired to 



* Proofs of a Conspiracy, p. 21. 

f Oliver's Landmarks, vol. ii. p. 81, n. 35. 



PRI 377 

Scotland, and placed themselves under tie protection of Robert 
Bruce ; and that, after the battle of Bannockburn, which took 
place on St. John the Baptist's day, in the year 1314, this 
monarch instituted the Royal Order of Herodom and Knight of 
the Rosy Cross, and established the chief seat of the order at 
Kilwinning. From that order, it seems to us by no means im- 
probable that the present degree of Rose Croix de Heroden may 
have taken its origin. In two respects, at least, there seems to 
be a very close connection between the two systems : they both 
claim the kingdom of Scotland and the Abbey of Kilwinning as 
having been at one time their chief seat of government, and 
they both seem to have been instituted to give a Christian expla- 
nation to Ancient Craft Masonry. There is, besides, a similarity 
in the names of the degrees of " Rose Croix de Heroden/' and 
" Herodom and Rosy Cross," amounting almost to an identity, 
which appears to indicate a very intimate relation of one to the 
other. 

The subject, however, is in a state of inextricable confusion; 
and I confess that, after all my researches, I am still unable dis- 
tinctly to point to the period when, and to the place where, the 
present degree of Rose Croix received its organization as a ma- 
sonic grade. 

No matter, however, where precisely it received its origin, nor 
who has the honour of having been its inventor, it is at least 
certain that the degree of Rose Croix is to be placed among the 
most ancient of the higher * degrees of masonry; and that this 
antiquity, in connection with the importance of its design and 
the solemnity of its ritual, has given to it a universality in the 
masonic world, inferior only to the degrees of Ancient Craft 
Masonry. It is to be found, as I have already said, in nearly aii 
the rites, under some name and in- some modification, and in 
many of them it is placed at the summit of the ritual. 

In the Ancient and Accepted Scotch rite, whence nearly ill 
the Rose Croix Masons of this country have derived the degree, 
it is placed as the eisjht^enth on the list. Some i lea of the im- 

32* 



378 PPJ 

portance of the degree may be obtained from a brief detail of the 
preparatory ceremonies which are necessary to be performed by 
ail candidates who make application for it. 

The ceremonies and history of a chapter of Hose Croix, are 
of such a nature as to render it impossible to give any account of 
them here. The presiding officer is called "Ever Most Perfect 
Sovereign/' and the two Wardens are styled "Most Excellent 
and Perfect Brothers." The annual feast of the order is on 
Shrove Tuesday, and must be celebrated by every member 
There are five other obligatory days of meeting, viz. Ascension 
day; St. John the Baptist's day, Pentecost; St. John the Evan- 
gelist's day; Tuesday after Easter; and All Saints' day. 

The degree is conferred in a body called a " Chapter of the 
Sovereign Princes of -Rose Croix," which derives its authority 
immediately from the Supreme Council of the Thirty-third, and 
which confers with it, only one other and inferior degree, that 
)f " Knights of the East and West." The aspirant for the de- 
gree of Rose Croix, who must, of course, have received all the 
preparatory degrees, applies at the door of the chapter with a 
petition for admission ; and if his prayer be granted, the time 
and place of his reception are made known to him, when he re- 
tires to return on the appointed day. 

On his second application, before admission, he is called upon 
to make the following engagements : 1, That he will never reveal 
the place where he was received, nor the names of those who 
were present at his reception ; 2, That he will conform to all the 
ordinances of the chapter, and keep himself uniformly clothed 
as far as he is able; 3, That he will acknowledge his master at 
all times and in all places, and never confer this degree without 
permission from proper authority, as well as answer for the pro- 
bity and respectability of those whom he may thereafter propose; 
4, That he will be extremely cautious in granting the degree, so 
that it may not be unnecessarily multiplied. 

There are two kinds of aprons. The first, or mourning apron, 
is white bordered with black ; on the flap are a skull and cross- 



PRI 379 

bones between three red roses; on the apron is a globe surrounded 
by a serpent, and above the letter J. The second apron, used 
on festive occasions, is red, lined and bordered with the same ; 
on it a triple triangle of gold, with three squares within three 
circles, and a J in the centre; above these the compasses extended, 
one point resting on the triangle, the other on the circles. This 
is the apron of the Scotch rite. The first apron in the French 
rite is black with a red cross. The second is white, bordered 
with red, .and inscribed with the jewel of the degree. The col- 
lar is red, with the eagle of the degree embroidered on it. 

The jewel of the Rose Croix is a golden compass, extended 
on an arc to the sixteenth part of a circle or twenty-two and a 
half degrees. The head of the compass is surmounted by a 
triple crown, consisting of three series of points, arranged by 
three, five, and seven. Between the legs of the compass is a 
cross resting on the arc of the circle ; its centre is occupied by 
a full blown rose, whose stem twines around the lower limb of 
the cross ; at the foot of the cross, on the same side on which 
the rose is exhibited, is the figure of a pelican wounding its breast 
to feed its young, which are in a nest surrounding it, while on 
the other side of the jewel is the figure of an eagle with wings 
displayed. On the arc of the circle, the P.*. W.\ of the degree 
is engraved in the cipher of the order. 

In this jewel are included the most important symbols of the 
degree. The cross, the rose, the pelican, and the eagle, are all 
important symbols, the explanation of which will go far to a 
comprehension of what is the true design of the Rose Croix 
order 

Of th3se emblems the eagle is perhaps the least important, 
and its application the most difficult to explain. The symbol, 
however, is of great antiquity. In Egypt, Greece, and Persia, 
this bird was sacred to the sun. Among the pagans it was an 
emblem of Jupiter, and with the Druids it was a symbol of their 
supreme God. In the Scriptures a distinguished reference is 
in many instances made to the eagle; especially do we find Moses 



380 PRI 

representing Jehovah as saying, in allusin to the belief that this 
bird assists its feeble young in their flight, by bearing them upon 
its own pinions, — u Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, 
and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto my- 
self."* Hence the eagle in the Rose Croix is very appositely 
selected as a symbol of Christ in his divine character, bearing 
the children of his adoption on his wings, teaching them with 
unequalled love and tenderness to poise thfir unfledged wings 
and soar from the dull corruptions of earth to a higher and holier 
sphere. And for this reason the eagle in the jewel is very signi- 
ficantly represented as having the wings displayed as if in the 
very act of flight. 

The same allusion to Christ, but still more significantly, is 
found in the pelican feeding its young, which occupies the other 
side of the jewel. As this bird was formerly supposed to wound 
its own breast that it might with its blood feed its young, so has 
it been adopted as an emblem of the Saviour who shed his blood 
for the salvation of the human race. The pelican, therefore, on 
the jewel of the Rose Croix, is a fitting symbol of Christ in his 
mediatorial character. Ragon*|" says that in the hieroglyphic 
monuments the eagle was the symbol of a wise man, and the 
pelican of a benevolent one ; and, therefore, he thinks that the 
eagle and pelican of the Rose Croix are intended to symbolize 
perfect wisdom and perfect charity. But this explanation apply- 
ing these attributes to Christ, is not at all inconsistent with the 
one we have advanced. 

It is scarcely necessary to speak of the cross as a Christian 
emblem. Although it is an ancient symbol of eternal life, and 
is to be found in use even among the Egyptians with that signi- 
fication, long before the days of Moses, yet since the crucifixion 
it has been peculiarly adopted as an emblem of Him who suffered 
on it. In this restricted sense, then, and not in that more gene- 
ral one of immortality, in which it is used in other parts of ma- 

* Exodus xix. 4. -j- Cours des Initiations. 



PR1 381 

*>onry, is the cross adopted as one of tie emblems of the Rose 
Oroix degree. 

The rose, in ancient mythology, was consecrated to Harpo- 
crates, the god of silence ; and in the mysteries the hierophant 
wore a crown of roses. Hence this flower was considered a? the 
emblem of silence and secrecy \ and when any thing was intended 
to be kept secret, it was said to be delivered sub rosa, or " under 
the rose." 

Ragon, in explaining the jewel of the Rose Croix, says that 
as the cross was in Egypt an emblem of immortality, and the 
rose of secrecy, the rose followed by the cross was the simplest 
mode of writing " the secret of immortality." But he subse- 
quently gives a different explanation, namely, that, as the rose 
was the emblem of the female principle, and the cross or triple 
phallus of the male, the two together, like the Indian lingam, 
symbolized universal generation. But Ragon, who has adopted 
the theory of the astronomical origin of Freemasonry, like all 
theorists, often carries his speculations on this subject to an ex- 
treme point. A simpler allusion will better suit the character of 
the degree, and be more in accordance with what we have already 
said of its other symbols. 

The rose is, in many places of Scripture, applied as a figura- 
tive appellation of Christ. This is familiar to all readers; thus 
in the Book of Canticles he is called "the rose of Sharon." The 
cross, of course, alludes, as we have already shown, to his death j 
the rose on the cross, is therefore an emblem of the death of the 
Saviour for the sins of mankind. 

From this brief review of the symbols of the Rose Croix, it 
will be evident that it is, in the strictest sense, a Christian de- 
gree.* This must, of course, mark it as one of comparatively 



* The documents of this degree always commence with these words : "In 
the name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity," and end with the salutation, 
u In the peaceful union of the sacred numbers." The members place R.\ j 
nt the end of their names. 



382 PRI 

modern origin, because all the ancient degrees are of universal 
application as to religion. The Rose Croix is, indeed, an 
attempt to christianize Freemasonry; to apply the rites, and 
symbols, and traditions of Ancient Craft Masonry to the last and 
greatest dispensation ; to add to the first temple of Solomon and 
the second of Zerubbabel, a third, that to which Christ alluded 
when he said, " Destroy this temple, and in three days will I 
raise it up." The great discovery which was made in the Royal 
Arch, ceases to be of value in this degree ; for it, another is sub- 
stituted of more christian application ; the Wisdom, Strength, 
and Beauty, which supported the ancient temple, are replaced by 
the Christian pillars of Faith, Hope, and Charity; the great 
lights, of course, remain, because they are of the very essence 
of masonry; but the three lesser give way to the thirty-three, 
which allude to the years of the Messiah's sojourning on earth 
Every thing, in short, about the degree, is Christian. 

Viewed, then, in this light, as a modern invention, and as 
forming no part of Ancient Freemasonry, we cannot fail to 
admire it as an ingenious and beautiful adaptation of a universal 
system to a more contracted principle — and as a pardonable, if 
not indeed a praiseworthy attempt to apply the sublime princi- 
ples of our all-tolerant order to the illustration of that last and 
most perfect dispensation under which we are now living. 

PRINCE OF THE ROYAL SECRET. See Sublime 

Prince of the Royal Secret. 

PRINCE OF THE TABERNACLE. Prince du Tabernacle. 
The 24th degree of the Ancient Scotch rite. This degree is in- 
tended to illustrate the directions given for the building of the 
tabernacle, the particulars of which are recorded in the twenty- 
fifth chapter of Exodus. The lodge is called a Hierarchy, and 
its officers are a Most Powerful Chief Prince, representing Moses, 
and three Wardens, whose style is Powerful, and who respectively 



PRI 383 

represent Aaron ; Bezaleel, he son of Uri ; and Aholiab, the son of 
Ahisainach.* 

The jewel is the letter A, in gold, suspended from a broad 
crimson ribbon. The apron is white, lined with scarlet and 
bordered with green. The flap is sky blue. On the apron is 
depicted a representation of the tabernacle. 

PRINCIPAL OFFICERS. The Worshipful Master and 
the two Wardens are styled the three principal officers of the 
lodge. 

PRINCIPALS. The officers of a Royal Arch Chapter, known 
in America as the High Priest, King, and Scribe, are in English 
Chapters called First, Second, and Third Principals. 

PRINCIPAL SOJOURNER. An officer in a Royal Arch 
Chapter, whose duties are similar to those of a Senior Deacon in 
a symbolic lodge. 

The Hebrew word "0, ger, which we translate a sojourner, 
signifies a man living out of his own country, and is used in this 
sense throughout the Old Testament. The children of Israel 
were, therefore, during the captivity, sojourners in Babylon, and 
the person who is represented by this officer, performed, as the 
incidents of the degree relate, an important part in the restora- 
tion of the Israelites to Jerusalem. He was the spokesman and 
leader of a party of three sojourners, and is, therefore, emphati- 
cally called the chief, or principa. sojourner. 

PRIORY. The body of Knights Templar which, in this 
country, is called a Commandery, in Scotland, under the re- 
vised statues of the order, is styled a Priory. The presiding 
officer of a Priory is called a Prior ; he is, therefore, equivalent 
to our Grand Commander. The organization of the Templars in 

* Levit. xxv. 23; 1 Chron. xxix. 15; Ps. xxxix. 12. 



384 PRO 

Scotland, is very different from that which exists in America. 
For a brief account of it, see Scotland, Knights Templar of. 

PROCESSIONS. Processions, in masonry, are entirely un 
der the charge of the Grand Lodge. No subordinate lodge has 
a right to appear in public, on any occasion, without the consent 
and approbation of the Grand Lodge, or of its representative, 
the Grand Master.* The object of this salutary regulation is, 
that the reputation of the order shall not suffer by the ill-timed 
or injudicious appearance of the brethren, when any small num- 
ber of them, inspired by a love of display or other unworthy or 
unwise motives, might choose to exhibit themselves, and the 
jewels and ornaments of the order, to the public gaze. For, on 
such an occasion, not the lodge alone, but the whole fraternity 
suffers; for the world is unable to make the distinction, and they 
often heedlessly and unjustly condemn the craft, in general, for 
the errors or transgressions of an individual brother, or of a 
single lodge. To avoid, therefore, any occasion of giving scandal, 
the Grand Lodge, which is composed of experienced Past 
Masters, has wisely reserved to itself the right of appointing the 
time when, the place where, and the manner in which, public 
displays of the order may take place. 

When, however, this consent has been obtained, if a single 
lodge walks in procession, the Master occupies the place of pre- 
cedence, and may have the Bible, Square and Compasses, carried 
on a blue velvet cushion, borne before him. If two or more 
lodges are present, the Master of the oldest lodge presides. If 
a past or present Grand Master, or Deputy Grand Master, or the 
Grand Wardens, join the procession of a subordinate lodge, 
proper attention is to be paid to them. Their place in the pro- 
cession is immediately after the Master of the lodge. A Grand 



* This rule is, however, dispensed with, in the case of masonic funerals, in 
places distant from the seat of the Grand Lodge, or res! tence of the Grand 
Master. 



PRO 385 

Warden must be supplied with two Deacons. When a Grand 
Master or Deputy Grand Master is present, the Book of Consti- 
tutions must be borne before him. But unless the Grand or 
Deputy Grand Master is present, the Book of Constitutions can 
never be carried in a procession of a private lodge. 

The brethren in a Masonic procession always walk two and 
two. They should be dressed in proper masonic costume, which 
is a suit of black, with shoes and white stockings, white gloves, 
and white leather aprons. Silk or satin aprons constitute no 
part of a Mason's dress. The apron must be of lamb's skin. 

PROFICIENCY. One of the requisite qualifications for ad- 
vancement to a higher degree is, suitable proficiency in the pre- 
ceding. Unfortunately, this qualification is not always sufficiently 
insisted on. Formerly there was a regulation, requiring that the 
candidate who desired to be passed or raised, should be examined 
in open lodge on his proficiency in the preceding degree. This 
salutary regulation is even now adhered to, by some lodges who 
look rather to the quality than to the quantity of their members, 
and who think that a lodge had better consist of a few skilful, 
than many ignorant members. Some Grand Lodges, viewing 
the necessity of due proficiency in its proper light, have strength- 
ened the ancient regulation by express rules. 

The proficiency of officers is also an important requisite. No 
brother should accept office in a lodge, unless fully qualified to 
perform its duties. An ignorant Master, and unskilful Wardens, 
reflect discredit not only on their own lodge, but by their incapa- 
city to explain the peculiar tenets of the order, on the whole fra- 
ternity. In February, 1844, the Grand Lodge of Ireland 
adopted, on this subject, resolutions declaring, that no brother 
should be considered eligible for or admissible to the office of 
Junior or Senior Deacon, until by strict examination in open 
lodge, he shall have proved himself able to administer the mys- 
teries of initiation to a candidate in the first degree; nor for the 
office of Junior or Senior Warden, until, by a like examination, 

33 



386 PRO 

he has proved that he is able to pass a candidate to the second 
degree ; nor for the office of Master, until he has proven his abi- 
lity to enter, pass and raise, a candidate through the three de- 
grees. 

A regulation of this kind ought to be adopted by every 
( i rand Lodge in the universe. 

PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER. An officer under the 
Grand Lodge of England, the appointment of whom is invested 
in the Grand Master. He presides over a province as its Grand 
Master, and is empowered to constitute lodges within its juris- 
diction. He is, however, enjoined to correspond with the 
Grand Lodge, and to transmit, at least yearly, an account of his 
proceedings. The office was first established in 1726, " when 
the increase of the craftsmen, and their travelling into distant 
parts, arid concerning themselves in lodges, required an imme- 
diate head, to whom the)' might apply in all cases where it was 
not possible to wait the decision of the Grand Lodge."* 

PROVOST AND JUDGE. Prevot et Juge. The 7th de- 
gree of the Ancient Scotch rite. The history of the degree re- 
lates, that it was founded by Solomon K. of I. for the purpose 
of strengthening his means of preserving order among the vast 
number of craftsmen engaged in the construction of the temple. 
Tito, Prince Harodim, Adoniram, and Abda his father, were 
first created Provosts and Judges, who were afterwards directed 
by Solomon to initiate his favourite and intimate secretary, Joa- 
bert, and to give him the keys of all the building. The Master 
of a Lodge of Provosts and Judges represents Tito, Prince 
Harodim, the first Grand Warden and Inspector of the three 
hundred architects. The number of lights is six, and the sym- 
bolic colour is red. 

The jewel is a golden key, having the letter A within a tri- 

* Anderson. Const, p. 340. 



PRO— PUR 387 

aii^le, engraved on the ward. The collar is red. The apron is 
white, lined with red, and is furnished with a pocket. 

PROXY The representative of a lodge in the Grand 
Lodge. Every lodge is entitled to be represented by its Master 
and Wardens. But when a lodge is too far distant from the 
seat of the Grand Lodge for those officers conveniently to attend, 
it may depute one or more Past Masters, under the seal of the 
lodge and the signature of the Worshipful Master and Secretary, 
to represent it in the Grand Lodge. A proxy has all the power 
that the Master and Wardens would have, if present. He may 
vote to the best of his judgment for the interest of the lodge, 
and the honour of the craft, unless instructed by the lodge, in 
which case he is bound to obey the expressed will of the lodge 
which he represents. It is not necessary that a proxy should be 
a member of the lodge which has appointed him. On the con- 
trary, he generally is not. 

PRUDENCE. One of the four cardinal virtues, the practice 
of which is inculcated upon the Entered Apprentice. Prudence, 
which, in all men, is a virtue highly to be commended, as teach- 
ing them to live agreeably to the dictates of reason, and preserv- 
ing to them by its cautious precepts the realities of temporal 
welfare, and the hopes of eternal happiness, is to the Mason ab- 
solutely necessary, that being governed by it, he may carefully 
avoid the least occasion, by sign or word, of communicating to 
the profane those important secrets which should be carefully 
locked up only in the repository of faithful breasts. Hence is 
this virtue, in the lecture of the first degree, intimately connected 
with, and pointedly referred to, a most important part of our ce 
remonies of initiation. 

PURPLE. The colour of one of the veils in the tabernacle, 
and the emblematic colour of the three intermediate degrees be- 
tween the Master Mason and the Royal Arch. Purple, in Roy^l 



388 PYT 

Arch Masonry, is the emblem of union, because it is produced 
by the combination of blue, which is the characteristic colour of 
the symbolic degrees, and scarlet, which is that of the Royal Arch 
degree. It reminds the wearer, therefore, to cultivate between 
these different members of the masonic family, a spirit of union 
and harmony. 

PYTHAGORAS. Masons, looking to the purity of the prin- 
ciples inculcated in the school of this Grecian sage, to the peculiar 
character of the ceremonies with which he clothed and concealed 
his doctrines, and to the great respect which he paid to the sci- 
ence of geometry, have delighted to hail him as an "ancient 
brother;" and there is no doubt that his mysteries, improved by 
his long experience, chastened by his own virtuous character, and 
enlarged by his extensive researches into the systems of other 
countries, "were the most perfect approximation to the original 
science of Freemasonry which could be accomplished by a heathen 
philosopher, bereft of the aid of revelation/'* 

Pythagoras was born at Samos, about five hundred and sixty- 
eight years before the Christian era. Having at an early age 
distinguished himself in the Olympic games, and obtained the 
prize for wrestling, he began his travels in pursuit of knowledge ; 
retiring into the East, he visited Chaldea and Egypt, the seats 
of learning and philosophy, and gaining the confidence of the 
priests, he obtained from them a knowledge of their mysteries 
and their symbolic writings. He is said to have been instructed 
in the sacred things of the Hebrews by the prophet Ezekiel.f 

Upon his return to Europe, he settled at the town of Crotona, 
in Magna Grecia, where he established the school which after- 
wards rendered him so illustrious as a teacher of philosophy. 



* Oliver, In it. 123. 

■f Some say by Daniel. He met the Tews at Babylon, where he visited during 
the captivity, and Oliver says, "was initiated into the Jewish system of Free- 
masonry." Landmarks, vol. ii. p. 412. 



PYT 38r 

His instruction, like that of all the ancient philosophers, was 
af two kinds, exoteric or public, and esoteric or private. To the 
rbrmer, all persons, indiscriminately, were admitted, but none but 
pupils, selected by himself for their virtue and capacity, were 
permitted to enjoy the benefits of the latter. 

To be received as a novice in the school of Pythagoras, was no 
easy task. The most rigid examination was made into the cha- 
racter of the candidate. If he was accepted, he deposited his 
property in the common fund of the society, and commenced his 
probation, which was of an exceedingly severe description. The 
novitiate lasted five years, during which period the aspirant was 
enjoined to be abstinent in food, and to preserve an uninterrupted 
silence. If he succeeded in obeying these instructions, he was 
permitted to aspire to the degrees, which were three in number, 
the Acousmatici, the Mathematici, and the Pythagoreans, in the 
last of which he was clothed in a white garment and fully in- 
structed in the secret doctrine. 

Pythagoras was, perhaps, the most virtuous, and taught the 
purest doctrines of all the heathen philosophers. The school 
which he established was distinguished for the piety as well as 
the attainments of his disciples. They were animated only by a 
reverence for the deity, and a love for their fellow-beings. Their 
respect for the Divine Being was such, that they never pronounced 
his name in their oaths,* and their brotherly love was such, that 
they were accustomed to adopt the noble sentiment a my friend is 
my other self."f 

Silence and secrecy were the first lessons taught by Pythagoras 
to his disciples. The five years novitiate of the candidate was 
passed in total silence, during which he learned to repress his 
curiosity; and to employ his thoughts on God. When admitted 
to the fellowship of the society, an oath of secrecy was propounded 
to him on the sacred tetractys. 



* Jambliehus, Vit, Pythag. c. 33. 
f Porph. Vit. Pythag. 
33* 



390 PYT 

Implicit obedience was another lesson prescribed to the Py- 
thagoreans. Aoroq e<pr), u he, the master, has said it," was con- 
sidered as the most sufficient of reasons in all questions of 
propriety. 

The institutions of Pythagoras resembled the masonic in other 
respects besides its principles. His assemblies were arranged 
due east and west, because, he said, that motion began in the 
east and proceeded to the west. He had adopted a system of signs, 
whereby his disciples, dispersed though various countries, made 
themselves known to each other at first sight, and became as 
familiar at the first interview, as if they had been acquainted from 
their birth. And so closely, says Jamblichus, were their interests 
united, that many of them passed over seas and risked their fortune 
to re-establish that of one of their brethren who had fallen into 
distress. 

Jamblichus relates the following incident, which is in evidence 
both of their brotherly love and of their means of mutual recog- 
nition. A Pythagorean travelling in a distant country, fell sick 
and died at a public inn. Previous, however, to his death, being 
unable to compensate the landlord for the kindness and attention 
with which he had been treated, he directed a tablet, on which he 
had traced some enigmatical characters, to be exposed on the 
public road. Some time after, another disciple of Pythagoras 
passed that way, perceived the tablet, < nd being informed by its 
enigmatical characters that a brother had been there sick and in 
distress, and that he had been treated with kindness, he stopped 
and reimbursed the inn-keeper for his trouble and expense.* 

The symbols adopted by Pythagoras in his secret instruction, 
were principally derived from geometry. A notice of a few of 
them may be interesting. 

The right angle was an emblem of morality and justice. 

The equilateral triangle, was a symbol of God, the essence of 
Light and Truth The square, like the tetractys, referred to the 



* Jamblichus, \tt siijyra. 



QUA 391 

Divine mind. The cube was the symbol of the mind of man, 
after it had been purified by piety and acts of devotion, and thus 
prepared for mingling with the celestial gods. The point within 
a circle, and the dodecahedron or figure of twelve sides, were 
symbols of the universe. The triple triangle was aru emblem of 
health, and the letter Y a representation of the course of human 
life, in which there are two diverging paths, the one of virtue, 
leading to happiness,- and the other of vice, conducting to misery. 
Among the doctrines peculiar to the school of Pythagoras, 
was that of the metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls, 
which he derived during his travels from the Brahmins of India 
He forbade the eating of flesh, and the offering of animals in 
sacrifice. He taught that the universe was created out of the 
passive principle of matter, by the Divine Being, who was its 
mover and source, and out of whose substance the souls of men 
were formed. He believed in the universal influence of numbers, 
which he supposed to be the controlling principle of all things. 
He perceived in the human mind, not only propensities to vice 
and passion, but the better seeds of virtue. These he sought to 
cultivate and cherish by labour, study, and abstinence of life. 
In short, he appears to have extracted from the various sects of 
heathen philosophy, all that was good, and to have rejected all 
that was bad, forming thereby an eclectic system which ap- 
proached nearer to light and truth, than any that had ever, before 
his day, emanated from the unassisted wisdom of man. 



Q. 



QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES. The pre-requi- 
site qualification of candidates for admission into the mysteries 
of Freemasonry, are of three kinds — mental, moral, and physical 



392 QUA 

The mental qualifications are, that the cardidate shall be a 
man of sane mind ; that is, neither a fool, an idiot, nor a mad- 
man ; but one responsible for his actions, and competent to un- 
derstand the obligations, to comprehend the instructions, and to 
perform the duties of a Mason. The mental qualifications refer 
to the security of the order. 

The moral qualifications are, that he shall be no " irreligious 
libertine," but an obeyer of the moral law. That is, he must be 
virtuous in his conduct and reputable in his character, lest the 
dignity and honour of the institution suffer by the admission of 
unworthy persons. Neither must he be an atheist, but an hum- 
ble believer in the wisdom, power, and goodness of God, a belief 
which constitutes the religious creed of Freemasonry, and which 
is essentially necessary to a Mason as a check upon vice and a 
stimulus to virtue. Another important moral qualification is, 
that the candidate must come of his " own free will and accord." 
Masonry does not delight in proselytism. Though our portals 
are open to all who are worthy, yet we are unwilling that any 
should unite with us, except they be persuaded to the act by 
their uninfluenced convictions of the beauty and utility of our 
institution. The moral qualifications refer to the respectability 
of the order. 

The physical qualifications are, that the candidate shall be 
twenty-one years old or more, free born and no bondsman, of 
able body, and "of limbs whole as a man ought to be." 

This is one of the oldest regulations of our ancient craft. It 
arises from the originally operative nature of our institution. 
Whatever objections some ultra liberal brethren may make to 
the uncharitable nature of a law which excludes a virtuous man 
from our fellowship, because he has been unfortunate enough to 
lose a leg or an arm, we have no right to discuss the question. 
The regulation constitutes one of the many peculiarities tl ;it 
distinguish our society from all others; its existence continues to 
connect the present speculative with the former operative cha- 
racter of the institution ; it is an important part of our history j 



QUA 393 

and is, in short, by universal consent, one of the landmarks of 
the order. It can never, therefore, be changed. The physical 
qualifications refer to the utility of the order. 

The most ancient charges in which these regulations are to be 
found, are those whi?h were collected from the old records, and 
ordered to be printed by the Grand Lodge of England, 1722, 
and the manuscript charges in the possession of the Lodge of 
Antiquity, London. As they are brief, but important, I may be 
excused for inserting them here. 

" A Mason is obliged, by his tenure, to obey the moral ±aw ; 
and if he rightly understands the art, he will never be a stupid 
atheist nor an irreligious libertine."* 

"No master should take an apprentice, unless he has suffi- 
cient emplo} 7 ment for him, and unless he be a perfect youth, 
having no maim or defect in his body, that may render him in- 
capable of learning the art, of serving his master's lord, and of 
being made a brother, and then a Fellow-Craft in due time, even 
after he has served such a term of years as the custom of the 
country directs : and that he should be descended of honest pa- 
rents; that so, when otherwise qualified, he may arrive to the 
honour of being the Warden, and then the Master of the lodge, 
the Grand "Warden, and, at length, the Grand Master of all the 
lodges, according to his merit. ,; f 

"Thirdly, that he that be made, be able in all degrees; that 
is, free born, of good kindred, true, and no bondsman, and that 
he have his right limbs as a man ought to have."J 

In the Constitution, published under the sanction of the 
Grand Lodge of Maryland, by Brother Samuel Cole, the physical 
disabilities are set forth still more minutely, with an assignment 
of what is probably the true reason for their existence. They 
say, " no person is capable of becoming a member, unless he is 



* Old Charges, Sect. 1. — See Anderson, Constitutions. 

| Ibm. Sect. 4. 

% MS. in Lodge of Antiq. See Preston, 273. Noto. 



304 QUE 

free born, of mature and discreet age; of good report; of suffi 
cient natural endowments, and the senses of a man ; with an es 
tate, office, trade, occupation, or some visible way of acquiring 
an honest livelihood, and of working in his craft, as becomes the 
members of this most ancient and honourable fraternity, who 
ought not only to earn what is sufficient for themselves and fami- 
lies, but likewise something to spare fur works of charity, and 
supporting the true dignity of the royal craft. Every person 
desiring admission, must also be upright in body, not deformed 
or dismembered at the time of making ; but of hale and entire 
limbs, as a man ought to be."* 

In an able report made by Bro. W. S. Rockwell, Deputy 
Grand Master, to the Grand Lodge of Georgia, he traces the ex- 
istence of the law prohibiting the initiation of maimed candi- 
dates, to that early period of Egyptian history, in which a per- 
sonal defect would exclude from the priesthood — a law which is 
again to be found in the Mosaic ritual, from which the masonic 
institution is more immediately derived. Looking to the sym- 
bolic character of speculative masonry as referring to the mate- 
rial temple for its architype, he explains the present existence of 
the law in the following language, with the sentiments of which 
I cordially concur. 

" It was eminently proper that a temple erected for the worship 
of the God of Truth, the unchangeable I AM, should be con- 
structed of white stones, perfect stones, the universally recog- 
nised symbols of this, his great and constant attribute. The 
symbolic relation of each member of his order to its mystic 
temple forbids the idea that its constituent portions, its living 
stones, should be less perfect, or less a type of their great ori- 
ginal, than the inanimate material which formed the earthly 
dwelling place of the God of their adoration." 

QUESTIONS OF HENRY VI. This is a document which 

* See Cole, Freemas. Lib. p. 69. Constitutions, Ch. 1, Sect. 4. 



QUE 395 

has been so often printed in various masonic publications as to 
have become familiar to the fraternity. Its full title is, " Cer- 
tayne questions with answeres to the same, concernynge the mys- 
tery of maconrye ; wryttene by the hande of Kynge Henry the 
Sixthe of the name, and faythfullye copied by me, Johan Ley- 
lande Antiquarius, by the commaunde of His Highnesse." It 
first appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1758, where it 
purports to be a reprint of the pamphlet published five years be- 
fore, at Frankfort.* It is there stated to have been copied by 
one John Collins, from a MS. in the Bodleian library, and to 
have been enclosed in a letter from the celebrated John Locke, 
the author of the Essay on Human Understandings to Thomas, 
Earl of Pembroke, and bearing date May 6th, 1696. Preston 
afterward incorporated these questions into his work, and ap- 
pended to them a section of remarks on the manuscript, as well 
as on the annotations of Mr. Locke. This work has always been 
received as genuine among the craft, and in the life of Leland 
its authenticity is positively asserted. But this has lately been 
denied by Mr. Halliwell, in a small work entitled, " The Early 
History of Freemasonry in England/' published at London, in 
1840. The document purporting to come from the Bodleian li- 
brary, is so well known to most Masons, that I should have 
passed it over without notice in this work, were it not that I 
deemed it necessary to bring the doubts of Mr. Halliwell before 
my readers, many of whom may have no opportunity of seeing 
the original work in which the subject is discussed. The views 
of Mr. Halliwell will, perhaps, be best conveyed in the words of 
the doubter himself. 

"It is singular," says Mr. Halliwell, "that the circumstances 
attending its publication should have led no one to suspect its 

* The title of the paper, as found in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1753, 
page 417, is as follows : " Copy of a small pamphlet consisting of 12 pages, 
in Svo., printed in Germany in 1748, entitled: 'Ein Brief von dem beruchmten 
herrn. heron Johann Locke betreffend die Frey-Maurreren. So aufeinein 
Schrieb-Jiseb 3ines verstrorbnen Bruders ist gefunden worden.' " 



306 QUE 

authenticity. I was at the pains of making a long search in thfl 
Bodleian library last summer, in the hopes of finding the origi- 
nal, but without success. In fact, there can be but little doubt, 
that this celebrated and well-known document is a forgery ! 

" In the first place, why should such a document have been 
printed abroad ? Was it likely, that it should have found its 
way to Frankfort, nearly half a century afterwards, and been 
published without any explanation of the source whence it was 
obtained ? Again, the orthography is most grotesque, and too 
grass ever to have been penned either by Henry the Sixth, or 
Leland, or both combined. For instance, we have Peter Go were, 
a Grecian, explained in a note by the fabricator — for who else 
could have solved it? — to be Pythagoras ! As a whole, it is but 
a clumsy attempt at deception, and is quite a parallel to the re- 
cently discovered one of theirs* Englishe Mercurie."* 

Such are the objections of Mr. Halliwell to the authenticity 
of this celebrated antiquarian document. Let each estimate 
their value for himself. Fortunately, the dignity of masonry is 
not at all connected with the dispute. The questions throw but 
little light upon the history of the order, and its antiquity de- 
pends not on them alone for proof. 

QUESTIONS TO CANDIDATES. Every candidate, before 
being admitted to participate in our mysteries, is bound to answer 
certain questions, respecting the motives that have influenced his 
application. These questions are generally proposed in the fol- 
lowing form : 

" Do you seriously declare upon your honour, that, unbiassed 
by friends against your own inclination, and uninfluenced by 
mercenary motives, you freely and voluntarily offer yourself as a 
candidate for the mysteries of Freemasonry ? 

" Do you seriously declare upon your honour, that you are 
solely prompted to solicit the privileges of masonry, by a favour- 

* Halliwell, Hist, of Freemasonry, p. 40. 



RAT*— RAM 397 

able opinion conceived of the institution, a desire of knowledge, 
and a sincere wish of being serviceable to your fellow creatures? 

"Do you sincerely declare upon your honour, that you will 
cheerfully conform to all the ancient established usages and cus- 
toms of the fraternity V 

These questions should be propounded to the candidate by the 
Senior Deacon, in the preparation room, before initiation, and in 
the presence of the stewards or preparers. 



R 



RABBONI. This word may be translated as signifying " a 
most excellent master or teacher/' Jahn tells us, (in his Bibli- 
cal Archaeology, § 106,) that the Jews, in imitation of the 
Greeks, had their seven wise men who were called Rabboni, 
*?D"1- Gamaliel, the preceptor of St. Paul, was one of these. 
They styled themselves the children of wisdom, which is an 
expression very nearly corresponding to the. Greek <fdoGocoi 
The word occurs once as applied to Christ, in the New Testa- 
ment, (John xx. 16.) " Jesus said unto her, Mary. She 
turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, 
master." 

RAISED. This term is used to designate the reception of a 
candidate into the third degree of masonry. It conveys an allu- 
sion to a particular part of the ceremonies, as well as to the fact 
of his being elevated or raised to that degree, which is univer- 
sally acknowledged to be the suinnm of ancient craft masonry. 

RAMSAY. The name of the Chevalier Ramsay is conspicuous 

34 



398 RAM 

in the masonic history of the last century. He was born at Ayr, 
in Scotland, in 1686, and died at Germain-en-Laye, in France, in 
1743. He was a man of extensive erudition and the friend of 
the great and good Fenelon. One of the most faithful followers 
of the Pretender, he sought to identify the progress of Freema- 
sonry with the house of Stuart. For this purpose ho endea- 
voured to obviate the objections of the French nobility to the 
mechanical origin of the institution, at which their pride revolted, 
by asserting that it arose in the Holy Land, during the Crusades, 
as an order of chivalry. His theory was, that the first Freema- 
sons were a society of knights, whose business it was to rebuild 
the churches which had been destroyed by the Saracens ; that 
the Saracens, with the view of preventing the execution of this 
pious design, sent emissaries among them, who, disguised as 
Christians, became confounded with the builders and paralyzed 
their efforts \ that the knights having discovered the existence 
of these spies, became in future more careful, and instituted 
signs and words for the purpose of detection ; and that as many 
of their workmen were newly converted Christians, they adopted 
symbolic ceremonies with the view of instructing their proselytes 
more readily in their new religion. Finally, the Saracens becom- 
ing more powerful, the Knights Masons were compelled to aban- 
don their original occupation ; but being invited by a king of 
England to remove into his dominions, they had accepted the in- 
vitation, and there devoted themselves to the cultivation and 
encouragement of architecture, sculpture, painting and music. 
Ramsay attempted to support his system by the fact of the build- 
ing of the College of Templars in London, which was actually 
constructed in the twelfth century by the fraternity of masons 
who had been in the holy wars.* 

In 1728, Ramsay attempted to lay the foundation of a masonic 
reform, according to this system. He, therefore, proposed to the 
Grand Lodge of England to substitute, in the place of the three 

* Robison, Proofs of a Conspiracy, p. 33. 



REC 399 

degrees of Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master, three others of 
his own invention, those of Scotch Mason, Novice and Knight of 
the Temple, which he pretended were the only true and ancient 
ones, and had their administrative centre, from time immemorial, 
in the Lodge of Saint Andrew, at Edinburgh. His views were at 
once rejected by the Grand Lodge of England, which has always 
been the guardian of the purity of Ancient Craft Masonry. But 
he carried them to Paris, where they met with amazing success, 
and gave rise to those higher degrees which have since been known 
by the name of the Ancient Scotch rite.* See a further account 
of Ramsay under the title Innovations. 

RECEIVED. After the completion and dedication of the 
Temple, those brethren who consented to remain and keep that 
magnificent structure in repair, were, according to masonic tra- 
dition, as a reward for their attachment, received and acknow- 
ledged as Most Excellent Masters. Hence, the terms are used to 
express the reception of a candidate into the 6th or Most Excel- 
lent Master's degree of the Ancient York rite. 

RECOMMENDATION. The letter of every applicant for ini- 
tiation must be recommended by at least one well-known brother, 
who should be, if possible, a member of the lodge, and vouched 
for by another. See Vouching. 

RECORDER. An officer in a Commandery of Knights 



* Clavel, p. 165. I find the following paragraph in the Gentleman's Maga- 
zine for the year 1738. 

"There was lately burnt at Rome, with great solemnity, by order of the 
Irquisition, a piece in French, written by the Chevalier Ramsay, (author of 
the Travels of Cyrus,) entitled 'An Apologetical and Historical Relation of the 
Secrets of Freemasonry, printed at Dublin by Patric Odinoko.' This was 
published at Paris in answer to a pretended catechism orinted there by order 
of the Lieutenant de Police." 



400 RED— REF 

Templar, and a Council of Royal and Select Masters equivalent to 
a Secretary in a blue lodge. 

RED CROSS KNIGHT. See Knight of the Red Cross. 

RED CROSS OF ROME AND CONSTANTINE. A 

decree founded on the circumstances of the vision f the cross 
which appeared to the Emperor Constantine. It formed origin- 
ally a part of the Rosaic Rite, and is now practised in England, 
Ireland. Scotland, and some of the English colonies, as a distinct 
order, the meetings being called " conclaves, '' and the presiding 
officer of the whole order, " Grand Sovereign." 

REFLECTION, CHAMBER OF. Cabinet des Reflexions. 
In French lodges the preparation room in which the candidate 
remains, until he is introduced. It is thus called, because the 
gloomy furniture, and the moral inscriptions on the walls, are cal 
culated to produce, in his bosom, reflections of the most serious 
nature. 

A similiar apartment is used in the ceremonies of the degree 
of Knight Templar. 

REFORMED RITE. This rite was established in 1782, by a 
convention of Masons, who assembled at Wilhelmsbad, under the 
presidency of Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, who was elected its 
Grand Master. The members of this rite assumed the title of 
" Order of Charitable Knights of the Holy City." It was a re- 
formation of the rite of Strict Observance, which had been esta- 
blished in 1754, and differed from it, principally, in rejecting all 
connection with the Knights Templar, of whom, the members of 
the rite of Strict Observance had declared that Freemasons were 
the successors. The rite of Martinism was merged in this rite, 
whose system the lodges of Martinists universally adopted ; and 
thus constituted, it spread with astonishing rapidity over France, 
Switzerland, and Italy, but met with inconsiderable success in 



REF 401 

Germany, where the Templar system appears to have been, for a 
long time, the favourite. 

The Reformed rife consisted of five degrees: 1, Apprentice; 2, 
Fellow-Craft; 3, Master; 4, Scotch Master; 5, Charitable Knight 
of the Holy City. The last degree was subdivided into three sec- 
tions, namely : Novice, Professed Brother, and Knight, which 
actually gives seven degrees in all. 

It is still practised in France by one lodge, and in Switzerland 
by five. Its supreme body is situated at Zurich, in the latter 
country, under the title of the "Directory of Switzerland." 

REFORMED HELVETIC RITE. The rite described in 
the preceding article was introduced into Poland in 1784, by 
brother Glayre, of Lausanne, the minister of King Stanislaus, 
and who was also the Provincial Grand Master of this rite in 
the French part of Switzerland. But, in introducing it into Po- 
land, he subjected it to several modifications, and called it the 
Reformed Helvetic rite. The system was adopted by the Grand 
Orient of Poland. 

REFRESHMENT. When a lodge is temporarily adjourned, 
the adjournment is performed in a manner peculiar to Masons, and 
the lodge is then said to be " called from labour to refreshment." 
During refreshment, the column of the W.\ should also be down, 
and that of the S.\ be up, to indicate that the Junior Warden, 
not the Senior, now superintends the craft. Calling from 
labour to refreshment, differs from closing, in this, that in the for- 
mer mode the lodge is still open, nor when the labour is resumed, 
is there any ceremony of opening. Neither does the re-assem- 
bling of the brethren require any other summons or notification 
thau the simple command of the J.-. W.\ 

High twelve or noon was the hour at the temple when our an- 
cient brethren were regularly called from labour to refreshment. 
The tradition is that they worked twelve hours a day, and six days 
in the week. 

34* 



402 REI— REL 

REINSTATEMENT. When a Mason, who had been expelled 
or suspended by a lodge, is reinstated by the lodge, which had 
expelled or suspended him, he is at once restored to all his ma- 
sonic rights and privileges, just as if no such sentence had ever 
been passed upon him. But no lodge has the power of reinstat- 
ing, except the one which inflicted the original punishment. This 
rule, however, does not apply to the Grand Lodge, which, as the 
supreme masonic tribunal, may re-instate any expelled or sus- 
ended Mason within its jurisdiction, whenever the circumstances 
of the case may seem to warrant such an exercise of prerogative. 

REJECTION. Freemasonry insists on the principle of una- 
nimity that the harmony of the lodge may be preserved, and 
therefore it is a universal rule that one black ball should 
reject a candidate for initiation.* If a candidate be rejected, he 
can apply in no other lodge for admission. If admitted at all, in 
must be in the lodge where he first applied. But the time for a 
new application has never been specified, so that it is held that a 
rejected candidate may apply for a reconsideration of his case at any 
time. The unfavourable report of the committee to whom the 
letter was referred, or the withdrawal of the letter by the candi- 
date or his friends, is considered equivalent to a rejection 

RELIEF. Of the philanthropic tendency of masonry, 
abundant evidence is afforded in every country in which a lodge 
exists. Its charities are extended to the poor and destitute, to 
the widow and the orphan, with a liberal hand ; and its numerous 
institutions for improving the physical and moral condition of the 
human race, prove that " Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth," 
are not the mere idle and unmeaning language of a boastful 
motto, but the true and guidiug principles of our association. 
In our own land, several of the Grand Lodges have established 



* All of the Grand Lodges in the United States require unanimity in tho 
ballot. But the Old Constitutions permitted as many as three black balls, H 
the lodge desired it. 



REL 403 

colleges and schools for the education of the children of Masons. 
Some of these have been but lately organized, yet are the y all in 
a prosperous condition. In Europe, where the order has been 
longer in operation, the means of bestowing aid upon the desti- 
tute are still more perfect. Among these, the " Royal Freema- 
sons' School for Female Children/' in London, is worthy of all 
commendation. It was instituted in 1788, and the present 
building erected, at an expense of more than £3000, in the 
year 1793. The object of the charity is to maintain, clothe, and 
educate an unlimited number of female children and orphans of 
reduced Freemasons. It now extends its bounty to sixty-five 
children, who are received into the school between the ages of 
eight and eleven, and are wholly supported until they attain their 
fifteenth year. 

The "Asylum for worthy aged and decayed Freemasons/' in 
the same city, is another institution reflecting high honour on the 
society which gave it birth. It was founded in 1835, and its 
praiseworthy objects are sufficiently designated by its title. 

In Germany, we find " A Lying-in Hospital" for the wives of 
indigent Freemasons, established at Schleswig; an almshouse 
and orphan-honse at Prague ; a public school at Berlin ; an in- 
stitute for the blind at Amsterdam ; and a multitude of libraries, 
schools and hospitals, scattered throughout the German cities. 

In Sweden there is an orphan-house, established in 1753, at 
Stockholm, by the private contributions of the Swedish lodges. 
Ireland has also an orphan-house. But one of the most philan- 
thropic institutions of our order, is the " Society for patronizing 
poor children, " established at Lyons, in I^ance. Its object is 
to diminish the primary causes of pauperism. For this purpose, 
it commences with the child at birth ; it selects for him a patron 
from its members, whose duty it is to advise with and assist the 
parents in the government and education of the child. He sees 
that the child is well fed, comfortably clothed, and properly edu 
cated. When ready for a trade, he directs him in its selection, 
and binds him as an apprentice. And when the period of ap^ 
prenticeship has expired, he furnishes him with his outfit in life 



404 REL 

Of the private relief afforded in individual cases, where jhe 
sole claim to sympathy or assistance was the possession of the 
name of brother, it is unnecessary here to speak. The annals of 
masonry are crowded with such instances of masonic relief. 
Truth, may be said to be the column of wisdom, whose rays 
penetrate and enlighten the inmost recesses of our lodge ; Bro- 
therly Love, the column of strength, which binds us as one 
family, in the indissoluble bond of fraternal affection ; and Re- 
lief, the column of beauty, whose ornaments, more precious 
than the lilies and pomegranates that adorned the pillars of the 
porch, are the widow's tear of joy, and the orphan's prayer ol 
gratitude. 

RELIGION. Freemasonry does not profess to interfere with 
the religious opinions of its members. It asks only for a decla- 
ration of that simple and universal faith, in which men of all 
nations and all sects agree, — the belief in a God and in his su- 
perintending providence. Beyond this, it does not venture, but 
leaves the minds of its disciples, on other and sectarian points, 
perfectly untrammelled. This is the only religious qualification 
required of a candidate, but this is most strictly demanded. 
The religion, then, of Masonry, is pure theism, on which its dif- 
ferent members engraft their own peculiar opinions ; but they 
are not permitted to introduce them into the lodge, or to connect 
their truth or falsehood with the truth of masonry. 

On this subject, the present Constitution of the Grand Lodge 
of England, holds the following language : 

" A Mason is obliged, by his tenure, to obey the moral law, 
and if he rightly understand the art, he will never be a stupid 
atheist nor an irreligious libertine. He, of all men, should best 
understand that God seeth not as man seeth ; for man looketh at 
the outward appearance, but God looketh to the heart. A Ma- 
son is, therefore, particularly bound, never to act against the dic- 
tates of his conscience. Let a man's religion, or mode of wor- 
ship, be what it may, he is not excluded from the order, provided 



REM— REP 405 

he believe in the glorious Architect of heaven and earth, and 
practise the sacred duties of morality. Masons unite with the 
virtuous of every persuasion, in the firm and pleasing bond of 
fraternal love; they are taught to view the errors of mankind 
with compassion, and to strive, by the purity of their own con- 
duct, to demonstrate the superior excellence of the faith they 
may possess. Thus masonry is the centre of union between 
good men and true, and the happy means of conciliating friend- 
ship amongst those who must otherwise have remained at a per- 
petual distance." 

This tolerant principle is, however, unfortunately not practised 
in all masonic lodges. The three Grand Lodges at Berlin, in 
Prussia,* and the Grand Lodges of Hanover and Hamburg, re- 
fuse not only to initiate Jews, but even to admit as visitors their 
Israelitish brethren, who have been made in other countries. 
The Grand Lodges of this country have taken this subject into 
consideration, and several of them have already passed resolu- 
tions, condemning the proceedings of the Prussian and German 
Masons, which may possibly have some effect in restoring them 
to the purity and liberality of masonic tolerance. The Grand 
Lodge of Germany, at Hamburg, which works only in the three 
degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry, and derives its Constitutions 
from the Grand Lodge of England, is happily actuated by a 
more enlightened spirit. 

REMOVAL. No lodge can remove from its usual place of 
meeting, without the consent of the Grand Lodge thereto. For- 
merly no proposition could be made, nor vote taken on the ques- 
tion of removal, unless the Worshipful Master wf.s present. 
But this regulation appears now to have become obsolete. 

REPEAL. A lodge cannot, at an extra communication, re« 

* The Grand Lodge of the Three Glohes, the Royal York Grand Lodge of 
Friendship, and the Grand Lodge of Prussia. 



406 REP 

peal, annul, or alter a resolution, that has been ad pted at a pre 
vious regular one. 

REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM. The representative system 
originated in this country with the Grand Lodge of New-York. 
Its organization is as follows : It is proposed, that each Grand 
Lodge in the United States, or, if it can be sufficiently extended, 
in the world, shall appoint a worthy and intelligent Mason, to re- 
side near and represent it in every other Grand Lodge. These 
representatives are required to attend regularly the meetings of 
the Grand Lodges to which they are accredited, to communicate to 
their constituents an abstract of the proceedings, and such other 
masonic matter of interest, such as expulsions, rejections, esta- 
blishment of clandestine lodges, &c, as may occur in the respec- 
tive jurisdictions in which they reside. Their costume is that of 
the Grand Lodge which they represent, and they are also entitled 
to bear a banner with its colours. 

This system has not met with universal approbation, and has, 
as yet, but partially succeeded Its friends argue, ir> its favour, 
the closer union which will thereby be cemented between the 
various masonic bodies thus represented, and the greater facility 
of communication.* 

But on the other side, its opposers have offered weighty objec- 
tions against its adoption. Besides the heavy expense which 
would necessarily attend the universal adoption of the system, 
there is one, which certainly claims the attentive consideration 
of every brother. One of the most intelligent of these objectors 
is Brother Moore, the editor of the Freemason's Monthly Maga- 
zine, published at Boston, in whose words, rather than in my 
own, I desire to present the character of this objection to the 
reader. 



* The arduous duty of an extensive correspondence, wh ch had formerly 
been confided to one officer, the Grand Secretary, being now divided between 
several. 



RES 407 

"Another objection that presents itself to our mind is, that 
the proceedings of the Grand Lodges would go forth in an unof- 
ficial form, and be liable to lead to error and confusion. It is 
hardly to be presumed that the representatives would all take the 
same view of every subject that might come under discussion, or 
that they would understand it alike, in all its bearings. They 
would undoubtedly faithfully represent the matter to their con- 
stituents, as they should respectively understand it. But their 
understanding it would probably, in many cases, clash with the 
annual report of the official officer. Their representations would 
not, therefore, furnish safe grounds of action. The Grand 
Lodges would still be constrained to wait for the official report. 
Again, there is danger that the representatives might not always 
be able to discriminate between what it would be proper to com- 
municate, and what is strictly of a local character. There is not 
probably a Grand Lodge in the country which has not before it, 
at every communication, some subject which it would prefer to 
keep within the limits of its own jurisdiction. And it is one of 
the errors of human nature, that there should be an ambitious 
d^ire on the part of the representatives to communicate every 
thing which, in their judgment, might tend to raise them in the 
estimation, or contribute to the interest, of their constituents. 
They might not always discriminate wisely.* 

These objections are certainly important, and seem to have de- 
terred some of the Grand Lodges from appointing representatives. 
Whether the system will ever become universal is exceedingly 
problematical. The enthusiasm on the subject, which existed in 
some parts of the country, when it was first proposed, appears 
now considerably to have abated. 

RESIGNATION. No brother should be allowed to resign, 
unless he be at the time in good standing. Some lodges, how- 
ever, from a mistaken feeling of kindness, have permitted a 

* Moore's Magazine, vol. i. p. 196. 



408 RES— RHE 

member to resign, rather than resort to the penalty of suspension 
or expulsion. This is manifestly wrong. If a Mason be too bad 
to belong to a particular lodge, he is too bad to belong to the 
order in general. Besides, the acceptation of a letter of resigna- 
tion is a kind of tacit acknowledgement that the character of the 
resigning member is free from reproach. Hence, other lodges 
are thus deceived into the admission of one who should originally 
have been cured or cut off* by the lodge from which he had 
resigned. 

The resignation of a member dissolves all connection between 
himself and his former lodge, but it does not at all affect his 
general relations with the order, or his obligatory duties as a 
Mason. See on this subject, the article Demit. 

RESURRECTION". A resurrection from the grave and a 
future immortality were the great lessons which it was the de- 
sign of the ancient mysteries to inculcate. In like manner by a 
symbolic ceremony of great impressiveness, the same sublime 
truths are made to constitute the end and object of Freemasonry 
in the third degree, or as it has been called by Hutchinson, " the 
Master's Order." 

RETURNS OF LODGES. Every subordinate lodge must 
make an annual return, at some period specified in the local re- 
gulations, to the Grand Lodge from which it derives its "Warrant, 
of the number and names of its members, and of the initiations, 
rejections, suspensions, and expulsions which have taken place 
during the year. By this means, each Grand Lodge is made 
acquainted with the state of its subordinates, and the progress of 
the order within its jurisdiction. 

RHETORIC. The art of embellishing language with the 

* Quae sanari poterunt, quacunque ratione sanabo ; quae resecanda enint, non 
patiar ad perniciem civitatis manare. — Cicero in Catalin. 



RIG 409 

ornaments of construction, so as to enable the speaker to persuade 
or affect his hearers. It supposes and requires a proper acquaint- 
ance with the rest of the liberal arts. For the first step towards 
adorning a discourse, is for the speaker to become thoroughly 
acquainted with its subject, and hence, the ancient rule that the 
orator should be acquainted with all the arts and sciences. Its 
importance as a branch of liberal education is recommended to 
the Mason in the Fellow-Craft's degree. 

HIGrHT ANGLE. A right angle is the meeting of two lines 
in an angle of ninety degrees, or the fourth part of a circle. Each 
of its lines is perpendicular to the other, and as the perpendicu- 
lar line is a symbol of uprightousness of conduct, the right angle 
has been adopted by Masons as an emblem of virtue. Such was 
also its signification among the Pythagoreans. The right angle 
is represented in the lodges by the square, as the horizontal is 
by the level, and the perpendicular by the plumb. 

RIGHT HAND. The right hand has in all ages been deemed 
an important symbol to represent the virtue of fidelity. Among 
the ancients, the right hand and fidelity to an obligation, were 
almost deemed synonymous terms. Thus, among the Romans, 
the expression " fallere dextrarn," to betray the right hand, also 
signified to violate faith, and "jungere dextras," to join right 
hands, meant to give a mutual pledge. Among the Hebrews 
pOS iamin, the right hand, was derived from 1f2 N> aman, to 
"be faithful. 

The practice of the ancients was conformable to these pecu- 
liarities of idiom. Among the Jews, to give the right hand, 
was considered as a mark of friendship and fidelity. Thus St. 
Paul sa} T s, " when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be 
pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to 
me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should 
go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision." G-al. ii. 6. 

36 



410 RIG 

The same expression, also, occurs in Maccabees. We meet, in- 
deed, continually in the Scriptures with allusions to the right 
hand, as an emblem of truth and fidelity. Thus iu Psalms 
(cxliv.) it is said, " their right hand is a right hand of falsehood/' 
— that is to say, they lift up their right hand to swear to what 
is not true. This lifting up of the right hand was, in fact, the 
universal mode adopted among both Jews and Pagans in taking 
an oath. The custom is certainly as old as the days of Abraham, 
who said to the King of Sodom, " I have lifted up my hand unto 
the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 
that I will not take any thing that is thine." Sometimes among 
the Gentile nations, the right hand, in taking an oath, was laid 
upon the horns of the altar, and sometimes upon tne hand of the 
person administering the obligation. But in all cases it was 
deemed necessary to the validity and solemnity of the attestation, 
that the right hand should be employed. 

Since the introduction of Christianity, the use of the right 
hand in contracting an oath, has been continued, but instead of 
extending it to heaven, or seizing with it a horn of the altar, it 
is now directed to be placed upon the Holy Scriptures, which is 
the universal mode at this day in all Christian countries. The 
antiquity of this usage may be learned from the fact, that in the 
code of the Emperor Theodosius, adopted about the year 438, 
the placing of the right hand on the Gospels is alluded to, and 
in the code of Justinian, whose date is the year 529, the cere- 
mony is distinctly laid down as a necessary part of the formality 
of the oath.* 

This constant use of the right hand in the most sacred attesta- 
tions and solemn compacts, was either the cause or the conse- 
quence of its being deemed an emblem of fidelity. Dr. Potter)* 
thinks it was the cause, and he supposes that the right hand was 



* The words of Justinian are, " tactis sacrosanctis Evangeliis" — the Holy 
Sospels being touched. — Lib. ii. tit. 53. lex. 1. 
f Archoeologia Graeca, p. 229. 



RIG 411 

naturally used instead of the left, because it was more honour- 
able, as being the instrument by which superiors give commands 
to those below them. Be this* as it may, it is well known that 
the custom existed universally, and that there are abundant allu- 
sions, in the most ancient writers, to the junction of right hands 
in making compacts. 

The Romans had a goddess whose name was Fides, or Fidelity,* 
whose temple was first consecrated by Numa. "Her symbol was 
two right hands joined, or sometimes two female figures holding 
each other by the right hands, whence in all agreements among 
the Greeks and Romans, it was usual for the parties to take each 
other by the right hand, in token of their intention to adhere to 
the compact. 

The joining of the right hands was esteemed among the Per- 
sians and Parthians, as conveying a most inviolable obligation of 
fidelity. Hence, when King Artabanus desired to hold a confer- 
ence with his revolted subject, Asineus, who was in arms against 
him, he despatched a messenger to him with the request, who 
said to Asineus, " the king hath sent me to give you his right 
hand and security," — that is, a promise of safety in going and 
coming. And when Asineus sent his brother Asileus to the pro- 
posed conference, the king met him and gave him his right hand, 
upon which Josephus remarks : " This is of the greatest force there 
with all these barbarians, and affords a firm security to those 
who hold intercourse with them; for none of them will deceive, 
when once they have given you their right hands, nor will any 
one doubt of their fidelity, when that is once given, even though 
they were before suspected of injustice."")" 

It is thus apparent that the use of the right hand, as a token 

* By a strange error for so learned a man, Oliver mistakes the name of this 
goddess, and calls her Faith. " The spurious Freemasonry," he remarks, " had 
a goddess called Faith." No such thing. Fides, or, as Horace calls her, "in- 
corrupta Fides," incorruptible Fidelity, is very differer.1 from the theologies' 
virtue of faith. 

| Joseph. Ant. Jud. lib. xviii. cap. ix. 



412 BIG— RIT 

of sincerity and a pledge of fidelity, is as ancient as it is universal, 
a fact which will account for the important station which it occu- 
pies among the symbols of Freemasonry. 

RIGHT SIDE AND LEFT SIDE. Among the Hebrews, 

as well as the Greeks and Romans, the right side was considered 
superior to the left; and as the right was the side of good, so was 
the left of bad omen. Dexter, or right, signified also propitious, 
and sinister, or left, unlucky. In the Scriptures, we find fre- 
quent allusions to this superiority of the right. Jacob, for in- 
stance, called his youngest and favourite child, Ben-ja-min, the 
son of his right hand, and Bathsheba, as the king's mother, was 
placed at the right hand of Solomon. 

RING, LUMINOUS. The Academy of Sublime Masters of 
the Luminous Ring, was a pseudo-masonic society founded in 
France, in 1780. Its ritual was divided into three degrees. 
The first two were occupied with the history of Freemasonry, and 
the last with the peculiar dogmas of the institution which were 
essentially Pythagorean. 

RITE. A modification of masonry, in which the three ancient 
degrees and their essentials being preserved, there are varieties 
in the ceremonies, and number and names of the additional de- 
grees. A masonic rite is, therefore, in accordance with the gene- 
ral signification of the word, the method, order, and rules, 
observed in the performance and government of the masonic 
system. 

Anciently, there was but one rite, that of the " Ancient, Free, 
and Accepted Masons," consisting only of the three primary de- 
grees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason, 
hence called the degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry. But on the 
Continent of Europe, and especially in France and Germany, the 
ingenuity of some, and the vanity of others, have added to these 
an infinite number of high degrees, and of ceremonies unknown 



RIT 413 

to the original character of the institution. Some of these rites 
lived only with their authors, and died when their paternal en- 
ergy in fostering them ceased to exert himself. Others have 
had a more permanent existence, and still continue, nominally, 
to divide the masonic family. I say, only nominally, for the 
fact that they are all, no matter what be their unessential differ- 
ence, based upon the three ancient degrees, enables a brother of 
any rite to visit the symbolic lodges of all the other rites. A 
Master Mason is, in all rites and all countries, acknowledged as 
such, and entitled to all the privileges which that sublime degree 
confers. 

The following are the names of the rites of Freemasonry now 
practised in Europe and America. The first three are the most 
important, oldest, and most extensive; and the first, or York 
rite, approaches nearest in its construction to Ancient Craft Ma- 
sonry. The degrees conferred by each of these rites, and the 
places where they exist, will be found under the respective titles 
in this work. 

1. York rite. 

2. French, or modern rite. 

3. Ancient and Accepted Scotch rite. 

4. American rite. 

5. Philosophic Scotch rite. 

6. Primitive Scotch rite. 

7. Ancient Reformed rite 

8. Fessler's rite. 

9. Rite of the Grand Lodge of the Three Globes at Berlin. 

10. Rite of Perfection. 

11. Rite of Misriam. 

12. Rite or order of the Temple. 

13. Swedish rite. 

14. Reformed rite. 

15. Schroeder's rite. 

16. Rite of Swedenborg 

17. Rite of Zinnendorf. 

35* 



414 RIT— ROM 

RITUAL. The ritual of Freemasonry comprises the forms 
of opening and closing a lodge, of initiating candidates, and of 
conducting the other peculiar ceremonies of the order. The 
ritual differs in various places, and is not always the same in the 
same rite. Thus the lodges of England and America practise 
the same rite, the York, so far as the three symbolic degrees, 
and yet the rituals of the two countries vary considerably. An 
intimate acquaintance with the ritual constitutes what is techni- 
cally called a " bright mason. " 

ROLL. The roll, or record of members' names, is borne by 
Secretaries in public processions of the order. At the funeral 
of a brother, his name, during a portion of the funeral ceremo- 
nies, should be inscribed in the roll of the lodge to which he be- 
longed. The rolls, or insignia of office, carried by Secretaries in 
a funeral procession, are thrown into the grave. 

ROMAN COLLEGES OF ARTIFICERS. Collegia artifi- 
cum. Numa collected the various arts and trades which, during 
his reign, existed at Rome, into separate companies or societies, 
having their respective halls, courts, and religious exercises. 
The principal of these collegia artificum, was the college of ar- 
chitects, whose members he brought out of Attica, for the pur- 
pose of organization From this time, says Clavel, is to be dated 
the establishment of the mysteries of Bacchus at Rome. 

The eighth of the twelve tables contained laws applicable to 
the Roman colleges. These associations, which were called so- 
dalitates, or fratcmitafes, had the right of making contracts, 
and of enacting laws for their own government, and a few of the 
most distinguished, (among which were the college of architects,) 
were exempted from taxation. 

The Roman colleges were, in their character, both civil and 
religious institutions. Their assemblies were held with closed 
doers, and the profane were carefully excluded. Their macerise, 
)r halls, were situated in the neighbourhood of those temples 



ROM 415 

whose divinities they particularly worshipped, and whose priests 
employed them as artificers, in making the necessary repairs. 
In their assemblies they deliberated on the works entrusted to 
their construction, and initiated candidates into their society by 
mysterious ceremonies, and by symbolic instruction, derived from 
the working tools of their art. The brothers were divided into 
the usual classes of Apprentices, Craftsmen, and Masters. They 
contracted an obligation to render each other mutual assistance 
when necessary, and were enabled to recognise each other by se- 
cret signs. Their presidents, who were elected for five years, 
were called Magistri, or Masters. Besides these, there were 
seniores or elders, treasurers, secretaries, and other necessary 
officers. 

These colleges became, in time, the depositories of all the 
foreign methods of initiation, which were afterwards introduced 
into Rome. And it was through them that the most learned 
masonic writers have supposed that the Hebrew mysteries were 
transmitted, from the Jewish artists who visited Rome in great 
numbers during the reign of Augustus, to the travelling Free- 
masons, by whom all the religious edifices of the Middle Ages 
were constructed. 

The colleges of artificers, and especially those which professed 
architecture, spread from Rome throughout the provinces and 
principal cities of the empire. They existed in vigorous activity 
until the fall of the Roman Empire, and continued to decline 
during the ages which succeeded the invasions of the barbarians, 
until they are supposed to have revived in the architectural asso- 
ciations known as the " Travelling Freemasons of the Middle 
Ages," an account of which will be found in another part of this 
work.* 



* I have gladly availed myself of the industry of Clavel, who has collected 
every thing of importance that has Hen written pn the subject of these associ- 
ations. 



410 ROS 

ROSAIC RITE. A rite instituted in Germany by M. Rosa, 
a Lutheran clergyman, under the patronage of the Baron de 
Prinzen. It was at first exceedingly popular, but was superseded 
by the Strict Observance rite of Baron Hunde. 

ROSE. For an explanation of the Rose, as a masonic symbol, 
see the article Prince of Rose Croix. 

ROSE CROIX. See Prince of Rose Croix. 

ROSE, KNIGHTS AND NYMPHS OF THE. This was 
in order of Adoptive or Androgynous Masonry, invented in 
France towards the close of the eighteenth century. M. de 
Chaumont, the masonic secretary of the Due de Chartres, was its 
author. The principal seat of the order was at Paris. The hall 
of meeting was called the Temple of Love. It was ornamented 
with garlands of flowers, and hung round with escutcheons on 
which were painted various devices and emblems of gallantry. 
There were two presiding officers, a male and female, who were 
styled the Hierophant and the High Priestess. The former ini- 
tiated men, and the latter women. In the initiations the Hiero- 
phant was assisted by a conductor or deacon, called Sentiment, 
and the High Priestess by a conductress or deaconess, called 
Discretion. The members received the title of Knights and 
Nymphs. The Knights wore a crown of myrtle, the Nymphs a 
crown of Roses. The Hierophant and High Priestess wore, in 
addition, a rose-coloured scarf, on which were embroidered two 
doves within a wreath of myrtle. During the time of initiation, 
the hall was lit with a single dull taper, but afterwards it was 
brilliantly illuminated by numerous wax candles. 

When a candidate was to be initiated, he or she was taken in 
charge, according to the sex, by the conductor or conductress, 
divested of all weapons, jewels, or money, hoodwinked, loaded 
with chains, and in this condition conducted to the door of tho 
Temple of Love, where admission was demanded by two knocks 



ROS 417 

Brother Sentiment then introduced the candidate by order of 
the Hierophant or High Priestess, and he or she was asked his 
or her name, country, condition of life, and, lastly, what he or she 
was seeking. To this the answer was, " Happiness/' 

The next question proposed was, " What is your age ?" The 
candidate, if a male, replied, " The age to love •/' if a female, 
" The age to please and to be loved." 

The candidates were then interrogated concerning their private 
opinions and conduct in relation to matters of gallantry. The 
chains were then taken from them, and they were invested with 
garlands of flowers which were called " the chains of love." In 
this condition they were made to traverse the apartment from one 
extremity to another, and then back in a contrary direction, over 
a path inscribed with love-knots. The following obligation was 
then administered : 

" I promise and swear by the Grand Master of the Universe 
never to reveal the secrets of the order of the Kose, and should 
I fail in this my vow, may the mysteries I shall receive add nothing 
to my pleasures, and instead of the roses of happiness may I find 
nothing but the thorns of repentance." 

The candidates were then conducted to the mysterious groves 
in the neighbourhood of the Temple of Love, where the knights 
received a crown of myrtle, and the nymphs a simple rose. 
During this time a soft melodious march was played by the or- 
chestra. After this the candidates were conducted to the altar 
of mystery, placed at the foot of the Hierophant's throne, and 
there incense was offered up to Venus and her son. If it was a 
knight who had been initiated, he now exchanged his crown of 
myrtle for the rose of the last initiated nymph, and if a nymph, 
she exchanged her rose for the myrtle crown of Brother Senti- 
ment. The Hierophant now read a copy of verses in honour of 
the God of Mystery, and the bandage was at length taken from 
the eyes of the candidate. Delicious music and brilliant lights 
now added to the charms of this enchanting scene, in the midst 



418 ROS 

")f which the Hierophant communicated to the candidate the 
modes of recognition peculiar to the order.* 



ROSTCRUCIANS. Of the secret society of the Rosicraciana 
or Brothers of the Rosy Cross, Bailey gives the following ac- 
count : 

"Their chief was a German gentleman, educated in a monas- 
tery, where, having learned the languages, he travelled to the 
Holy Land, anno 1378, and being at Damascus and falling sick, 
he had heard the conversation of some Arabs, and other Oriental 
philosophers, by whom he is supposed to have been initiated into 
this mysterious art. At his return into Germany he formed a 
society, and communicated to them the secrets he had brought 
with him out of the East, and died in 1484. 

" They were a sect or cabal of hermetical philosophers ; who 
bound themselves together by a solemn secret, which they swore 
inviolably to observe ; and obliged themselves, at their admission 
into the order, to a strict observance of certain established rules. 

" They pretended to know all sciences, and especially medi- 
cine, of which they published themselves the restorers; they also 
pretended to be masters of abundance of important secrets, and 
among others, that of the philosopher's stone; all which they 
affirmed they had received by tradition from the Ancient Egyp 
tians, Chaldeans,, the Magi and Gymnosophists. 

" They pretended to protract the period of human life by 
means of certain nostrums, and even to restore youth. They 
pretended to know all things ; they are also called the Invisible 
Brothers, because they have made no appearance, but have kept 
themselves incog, for several years. "f 

The society of the Rosicrucians or Brothers of the Rosy Cross, 
thus engaged in the wild studies of alchemy, protracted their 

* I have given the above details in compliance with a promise made in the 
article on " Androgynous Masonry," and for the gratification of the curious. 
I am indebted for them to the industry of Clavel. 

•\ Bailey, Diet, in voce. 



ROS 419 

existence until the middle of the eighteenth century, when they 
at length ceased to meet, in consequence of the death of Brun, 
their chief. Their association was well organized, being divided 
like the society of Jesuits into bodies, having each its particular 
chief, with a general chief at the head of all. Their system of 
initiation was divided into nine degrees, as follows: 1, Zelator; 
2, Thericus; 3, Practicus ; 4, Philosophus ; 5, Adeptus Junior; 
6, Adeptus Major; 7, Adeptus Exemptus; 8, Magister; 9, 
Magus. 

Out of this society was formed, in 1777, an association calling 
itself "The Brothers of the Golden Rosy Cross," whose system 
was divided only into three degrees. This society was very nu- 
merous in Germany, and even extended into other countries, es- 
pecially into Sweden. A second schism from the Rosicrucians 
was the society of the " Initiated Brothers of Asia," which was 
organized in 1780, and whose pursuits, like those of the parent 
institution, were alchemy and the natural sciences. In 1785, it 
attracted the attention of the police, and two years later, received 
a fatal blow, in the revelation of all its secrets by one Rolling, a 
treacherous member of the association. 

The Rosicrucians, as this brief history indicates, had no con- 
nection whatever with the masonic fraternity. Notwithstanding 
this fact, Barruel,* the most malignant of our revilers, with a 
characteristic spirit of misrepresentation, attempted to identify 
the two institutions. This is an error, into which others might 
unwittingly fall from confounding them with the Princes of Rose 
Croix, a masonic degree, somewhat similar in name, but entirely 
different in character. To correct this error where it may have 
been committed, is the object of this article, which otherwise 
would not have been entitled to a place in a masonic lexicon."}* 

* Memoirs of Jacobinism. 

f The Rosicrucians do not derive their name, like Rose Croix Masons. fr:m 
the Rose and Cross, for they have nothing to do with the rose, but from tho 
Latin ros, dew, and crux, the cross, as a hieroglyphic of light, which Mosheim 
esp'iins as follows : " Of all natural bodii s, dew was esteemed the most pow- 



420 ROY 

ROYAL ARCH. More properly called the Holy Royaj 
Arch. It is the seventh degree in the York rite, as practised in 
this country, and by some styled the summit of ancient masonry. 
Dermot says of it, " this I firmly believe to be the root, heart 
and marrow of masonry." And Hutchinson, speaking of it, 
uses the following remarkable language: "As Moses was com- 
manded to pull his shoes from off his feet, on Mount Horeb, be- 
cause the ground whereon he trod was sanctified by the presence 
of the Divinity, so the Mason who would prepare himself for 
this exalted stage of masonry, should advance in the naked paths 
of truth, be divested of every degree of arrogance, and approach 
with steps of innocence, humility and virtue, to challenge the 
ensigns of an order, whose institutions arise on the most solemn 
and sacred principles of religion." 

This degree brings to light many essentials of the craft which 
were for the space of 470 years buried in darkness, and at the 
same time impresses on the mind of the possessor the belief in a 
Supreme Being and the reverence due to his holy name. 

This is the proper place to introduce a brief account of the 
Temple from its dedication by Nebuchadnezzar, and its re-erec- 
tion seventy years afterwards by Zerubbabel. 

After the death of Solomon, ten of the twelve tribes revolted 
from his son Rehoboam. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin, 
however, continued faithful to the house of David, and were 
ruled by the descendants of Solomon, until, in the eleventh year 
of the reign of Zedekiah, the city was taken after a siege of 
eighteen months, by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, who de- 
stroyed the city, set fire to the Temple, and carried away most of 
the inhabitants as captives to Babylcn, 416 years after the Tem- 
ple had been dedicated to Jehovah, by King Solomon. 

erful solvent of gold ; and the cross, in chemical language, is equivalent to 
Tight, because the figure of a cross + exhibits at the same time three letters, 
of which the words LVX, or light, is compounded. Hence a Rosicrucian phi- 
losopher is one who, by the assistance of the dew, seeks for light, or the phi- 
'osoplu -'s stone. 



ROY 421 

The tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained in captivity 
seventy years at Babylon, until Cyrus, in the first year of his 
reign, commiserating the calamity of the Jews, issued an edict, 
permitting them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the house of 
the Lord. This they did under the care of Zerubbabel, Prince 
of Judah, and Joshua, the High Priest who superintended the 
work, while Higgai, the Scribe, instigated his countrymen, by 
his eloquence, to zeal and diligence in the pious labour. 

Until the year 1797, as no grand chapters were in existence, 
a competent number of companions, possessed of sufficient abili- 
ties, proceeded, under the sanction of a Master's warrant, to con- 
fer the degree of the Royal Arch with the preparatory degrees. 
But in that year, a convention of delegates from the several 
chapters in Pennsylvania met, and after mature deliberation, re- 
solved to organize a Grand Chapter, which was accordingly done. 
Since that period, the jurisdiction of Royal Arch Masonry has 
been separated from that of the symbolic degrees. 

The officers in a chapter of this degree, are a Most Excellent 
High Priest, King, Scribe, Captain of the Host, Principal So- 
journer, Royal Arch Captain, three Grand Masters of the Vails, 
Secretary, Treasurer, and Sentinel. 

The true origin of the Royal Arch is an important question, 
that has lately engaged the attention of masonic writers. Some 
have asserted that it was brought by the Templars from the Holy 
Land j others say that it was established as a part of Templar 
masonry in the sixteenth century, and others again assert that it 
was unknown before the year 1780. Dr. Oliver, in a work of 
profound research on this subject, says that " there exists suffi- 
cient evidence to disprove all their conjectures, and to fix the era 
of its introduction to a period which is coeval with the memora- 
ble schism amongst the English Masons about the middle of the 
last century."* 

* Some account ot the schism which took p?aee during the last century 
amongst the Free and Accepted Masons in England, showing the presumed 
origin of the Koyal Arch degree, <fcc, p. 4. 

36 



422 ROY 

It seems to me, as the result of a careful examination of the 
evidence adduced, that before the year 1740, the essential ele- 
ment of the Royal Arch constituted a part of the third degree, 
and that about that year it was severed from that degree and 
transferred to another, by the schismatic body calling itself " the 
Grand Lodge of England according to the old Constitutions." 

The Royal Arch in England is at present practised as a fourth 
degree, and the possession of the Past Mastership is not, as in 
this country, considered as a necessary qualification for exaltation. 
Any worthy Master Mason is now considered as eligible for the 
honours of the Royal Arch. The Royal Arch, in that country, 
is not considered as " essentially a degree, but the perfection of 
the third."* The time and circumstances of the degree as con- 
ferred in England coincide with the ritual in this country in the 
most important particulars. There is, however, an anomaly in 
the introduction of Ezra and Nehemiah as the companions of the 
three principal officers. 

The Royal Arch, as conferred in Ireland, differs very materi- 
ally from the degree in England and America. The Irish system 
consists of three degrees; the Excellent, Super Excellent and 
Royal Arch, and the Past Master's degree is indispensable as a 
qualification for exaltation. The Excellent and Super Excellent 
degrees refer to events connected with the legation of Moses. 
The events commemorated in the Royal Arch of Ireland refer to 
2 Chronicles, chap, xxxiv., and expressly to the 14th verse of 
that chapter. " And when they brought out the money that 
was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah, the priest, 
found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses." The 
date of their degree is, therefore, 624 B.C., or ninety years 
earlier than ours. 

In Scotland the era of the legend of the Royal Arch is the 
same as in England and America, but the organization of the 
system is very different. The Mark and Past Master, which are 



* Freemason s Quart. Rer. 1843, p. 464. 



ROY 423 

called "Chair Master degrees/' are indispensable qualifications, 
and candidates having had these degrees conferred receive two 
others, Excellent and Super Excellent, as preparatory to the 
Arch. Chapters in Scotland also confer on Royal Arch Masons 
the degrees of Royal Ark Mariner and Red Cross Knight, the 
latter degree receiving from them the name of " Babylonish 
Pass." The Scotch Masons contend that the Royal Arch, with 
its subsidiary degrees, constitutes a part of Templar Masonry.* 

Badge of the Royal Arch. The badge of a Royal Arch Ma- 
son is the apron and sash. In America the apron is a white 
lambskin, bordered with scarlet edging. The sash is of scarlet 
silk or velvet, on which are inscribed the words " Holiness to the 
Lord." The colour is emblematic of fervency and zeal ; the 
words are those which were worn in front of the High Priest's 
mitre. In England the apron and sash are of purple radiated 
with crimson,*)" the former implying awe and reverence, and the 
latter, justice tempered with mercy. The triple tau L_J is deli- 
neated on the apron. 

Jewel of the Royal Arch. In this country we have lost sight 
of the jewel, though I hope to see it yet restored. The English 
Royal Arch jewel is a double triangle within a circle of gold. In 
the centre of the two triangles, a sun with diverging rays, and un- 
derneath, or suspended to this, the triple tau. The intersecting 
triangles denote the elements of fire and water, the circle, infinity 
and eternity, and the sun is an emblem of Deity. So important 
is the triple tau considered that it is called " the emblem of all 
emblems, and the Grand Emblem of Royal Arch Masonry." 

ROYAL ARCH, ANCIENT. See Knight of the Ninth Arch. 

ROYAL ARCH CAPTAIN. The sixth officer in a chapter 

* General Regulations for the government of the order of Royal Arch Ma- 
sons in Scotland. Edinburg, 1845. 

f Finch says the colours are purple, red and blue, the blue implying truth 
and constancy. This agrees better with the colours of our Royal Arch. 



424 ROY— RUL 

of the Royal Arch degree, whose duties and station are, in some 
respects, similar to those of a Junior Deacon in a symbolic lodge. 

ROYAL ARCH OF ENOCH. This is more usually known 
as the degree of Knights of the Ninth Arch, which see. 

ROYAL ART. Masonry is called a Royal Art, not only be- 
cause it received its present form from the royal hands of Solo- 
mon, King of Israel, and Hiram, King of Tyre, and has since 
enrolled among its members the proudest and most powerful po- 
tentates of the earth, but more especially, because of the dignity 
and majesty of the principles which it inculcates and which ele- 
vate it above all other arts, as a king is elevated above his sub- 
jects. 

ROYAL MASTER. A degree by no means of ancient ori- 
gin, intimately connected with the degree of Select Master, and 
with it, as explanatory of the Royal Arch degree, sometimes 
given in chapters preparatory to that degree,* and sometimes 
conferred on Royal Arch Masons by a distinct and independent 
body, called " A Council of Royal and Select Masters." The le- 
gend of the degree is brief, but interesting. 

RULE. An instrument with which straight lines are drawn, 
and, therefore, used in the Past Master's degree as an emblem, 
admonishing the Master punctually to observe his duty, to press 
forward in the path of virtue, and neither inclining to the right 
nor the left, in all his actions to have eternity in view. The 
twenty -four inch guage is often used in giving the instruction as 
a substitute for this working tool. But they are entirely differ- 



* Such is the case in the Chapters of R. A. Masons in Virginia; hut tho 
Grand Council of R. and S. Masters in Alabama have taken exception to this 
course and declared all R. and S. Masters, thus made, clandestine, and ineli- 
gible to admission into their Councils. 



SAB— SAI 425 

ent; the twenty-four inch gauge is one of the working tools of 
an Entered Apprentice, and requires to have the twenty-four 
inches marked upon its surface ; the rule is one of the working 
tools of a Past Master, and is without the twenty-four divisions. 
The rule is appropriated to the Past or Present Master, because, 
by its assistance, he is enabled to lay down on the trestle board 
the designs for the craft to work by. 



S. 

SABBATH. God having created the world in six days, 
rested on the seventh and proclaimed it holy. It is the type of 
that time of refreshment which he only should expect who has well 
and faithfully fulfilled the days of his labour. Hence, with the 
virtuous Mason, the Sabbath day has ever been esteemed as an 
occasion on which he might contemplate the works of creation 
and humbly adore the great Creator. 

SAINT ANDREW, GRAND SCOTCH KNIGHT OF. 

Grand Ecossais de Saint Andre. The 29th degree of the An- 
cient and Accepted Scotch rite, and may be considered as prepa- 
ratory to the Kadosh. It is founded on the legend which we 
have recorded in the sketch of the Chevalier Ramsay, given in 
this work. It is the first of the three degrees which he under- 
took to substitute in the place of the ancient symbolic degrees. 
This degree is sometimes called "Patriarch of the Crusades/' in 
allusion to its supposed origin during those wars, and sometimes 
" Grand Master of Light," on account of the masonic instruc- 
tions it contains. 

The officers are a Master and two Wardens. The lodge is 
hung with red, and illuminated with eighty-one lights disposed 

by nines. 

36* 



426 SAI 

The jewel proper is the square and compasses with a poignard 
in the centre, within a triple triangle, the whole surrounded by 
a sun. There is another jewel, which is a cross of St. Andrew, 
having a Y within a triangle, surrounded by a circle in the centre 
of the cross, and one of these letters B. J. M. N. on each of its 
extremities. 

SAINT JOHN OF JERUSALEM. The primitive, or mo- 
ther lodge, was held at Jerusalem, and dedicated to St. John, 
and hence was called " The lodge of the holy St. John of Jeru- 
salem." Of this first lodge all other lodges are but branches, 
and they therefore receive the same general name, accompanied 
by another local and distinctive one. In all masonic documents 
the words ran formerly as follows : " From the lodge of the holy 
St. John of Jerusalem, under the distinctive appellation of Solo- 
man's lodge, No, 1." or whatever might be the local name. In 
this style foreign documents still run ; and it is but a few years 
since it has been at all disused in this country.* Hence we say 
that every Mason hails from such a lodge, that is to say, from a 
just and legally constituted lodge. •(■ 

SAINT JOHN'S MASONRY. A term used like "Ancient 
Craft Masonry," to designate the three primitive degrees. They 
are so styled by the Grand Lodge of Scotland. " The Grand 
Lodge of Scotland practises no degrees of masonry but those of 
Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason, denominated St, 
John's Masonry."J 



* I would certainly recommend the renewal of this masonic style, especially 
in diplomas. 

•f" In the degree of Grand Master of all Symbolic Lodges, the reason assigned 
is, "because in the time of the Crusades the Perfect Masons communicated a 
knowledge of their mysteries to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, where- 
upon it was determined to celebrate their festival annually on St. John's day, 
as they were both under the same law." 

t Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, c. i, art. 4. 



SAI 427 

SAINT JOHN THE ALMONER. The saint to whom Com- 
iDanderies of Knights Templars are dedicated. He was the son 
of the King of Cyprus, and was born in that island in the sixth 
century. He was elected Patriarch of Alexandria, and has been 
canonized by both the Greek and Roman churches, his festival 
among the former occurring on the 11th of November, and 
among the latter on the 23d of January. Bazot, who published 
a Manual of Freemasonry, in 1811, at Paris, thinks that it is 
this saint, and not St. John the Evangelist, or St. John the 
Baptist, who is meant as the true patron of our order. " He 
quitted his country and the hope of a throne/' says this author, 
" to go to Jerusalem, that he might generously aid and assist the 
knights and pilgrims. He founded a hospital and organized a 
fraternity to attend upon sick and wounded Christians, and to 
bestow pecuniary aid upon the pilgrims who visited the Holy 
Sepulchre. St. John, who was worthy to become the patron of 
a society, whose only object is charity, exposed his life a thou- 
sand times in the cause of virtue. Neither war, nor pestilence, 
nor the fury of the infidels, could deter him from pursuits of be- 
nevolence. But death, at length, arrested him in the midst of his 
labours. Yet he left the example of his virtues to the brethren, 
who have made it their duty to endeavour to imitate them. 
Rome canonized him under the name of St. John the Almoner, 
or St. John of Jerusalem; and the Masons, whose temples, over- 
thrown by the barbarians, he had caused to be rebuilt, selected 
him with one accord as their patron."* 

SAINTS JOHN. St. John the Baptist, whose festival foils 
on the 2-lth of June, and St. John the Evangelist, whose festival 
occurs on the 27th of December, have been selected by Christian 
Masons as the patrons of their order \ and to them, under the 
appellation of the " Holy Saints John," all Christian lodge? 



t Manual du Franc- Ma^on, p. 144. 



428 SAM— SAS 

should be dedicated. See, for the author's theory on the subject 
of this dedication, the article Dedication in this work. 

SAMARITAN, GOOD. The Good Samaritan is a side de- 
gree given to Royal Arch Masons and their wives. Of all the 
side degrees it is decidedly the most beautiful and in pressive. 
It is founded on the tenth chapter of St. Luke, 30-35 verses. 
A Good Samaritan is bound, when duly summoned, to nurse a 
companion in sickness. 

SANCTUARY. That part of the temple, being two-thirds 
of its length, which was in front of the Holy of Holies, and be- 
tween it and the porch. See Temple. 

SANCTUM SANCTORUM. Holy of Holies. The inner- 
most part of the temple, into which, after its dedication, none 
entered but the High Priest. It was twenty cubits square, and 
was separated from the sanctuary by a door of cedar and four 
curtains of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen. It contained the 
ark of the covenant, with its mercy seat and overshadowing che- 
rubim. See Temple. 

SASH. The old regulation on the subject of wearing sashes 
in a procession, is in the following words : " None but officers, 
who must always be Master Masons, are permitted to wear sashes; 
and this decoration is only for particular officers." In this coun- 
try the wearing of the sash appears, very properly, to be confined 
to the W.\ Master, as a distinctive badge of his office. 

The sash is worn by all the companions of the Royal Arch 
degree, and is of a scarlet colour, with the words, " Holiness to the 
Lord," inscribed upon it. These were the words placed upon the 
mitre of the High Priest of the Jews. 

The sash, or scarf, seems to have been derived from the Zennar, 
or sacred cord, placed upon the candidate in the initiation intc 
the mysteries of India, and which every Brahmin was compelled 



SCA 429 

to wear. This cord was woven with great solemnity, and oeing 
put upon the left shoulder passed over to the right side, and hung 
down as low as the fingers could reach. 



SCANDINAVIAN MYSTERIES. The rites of initiation 
practised in Scandinavia, were introduced there from Scythia, by 
Sigge, a Cymrian warrior, who afterwards assumed the name of 
Odin, with whom we are all familiar as the G-othic representative 
of Mercury or Hermes. This origin of these rites accounts for their 
general resemblance in legend and ceremonies to the Eastern 
mysteries. In them was celebrated the death of Balder, who was 
killed by Loke, who fatally wounded him with a branch of mistle- 
toe. Balder was the sun, Loke the principle of winter, to which 
season the mistletoe belongs. The ceremonies of initiation re- 
presented the waitings of the gods for the death of Balder, the 
search for his body, in which the candidate was made to engage, and 
its final discovery, and his restoration to life and vigour. The 
ceremonies were accompanied by all the paraphernalia of dismal 
noises and hideous sights, which was calculated to inspire the 
aspirant with terror and confusion, and were terminated by the 
administration to the initiate of a solemn oath, in which he swore 
to pay due submission to the chief officers of state, to practise de- 
votion to the gods, and to protect and defend his initiated com- 
panions, at the hazard of his life from all their enemies, and if 
slain to avenge their death. 

The legend of the death of Balder, which we can scarcely doubt 
was the subject of initiation, is thus related. Balder was invul- 
nerable ; for Odin and Friga, (the Gothic Venus,) had exacted, 
in his favour, an oath of safety from every thing in nature except 
the mistletoe, whose promise of immunity, in contempt of ita 
ignoble qualities, they had neglected to obtain. Loke, the prin- 
ciple of evil, had discovered this exception, and on a day when 
Balder, was sportively oifering himself as a mark to the skill and 
dexterity of the gods, Loke presented Hoder, who was blind, with 
a branch of mistletoe, with which he pierced the body of Balder. 



430 SCA 

whc instantly fell dead. His body was then placed in a boat, 
and set afloat on the waters, while all the gods mourned for his 
decease.* The reader who is familiar with the other mysteries 
of paganism, will readily detect in this legend, an obvious relation 
to the murder of Adonis by the boar, of Osiris by Typhon, and 
of Bacchus by the Titans. 

The ceremonies of initiation were very similar to those which 
have already been described in this work, as appertaining to the 
other rites. The candidate having been previously prepared by 
the necessary purifications, was conducted into the sacred cavern 
of initiation, his feet being naked, and led by a winding descent 
amid the howling of dogs, and appearance of phantoms, to the 
tomb of the prophetess Volva. Here, having been properly 
instructed, he inquires of her respecting the fate of Balder. The 
prophetess now foretells the circumstances which have already 
been related in the legend above cited. The candidate presses 
onward, and soon hears the bewailings for the death of Balder. 
He is now confined in the Pastosf until a term of penance is com- 
pleted, when he is directed to search for the body of Balder, and to 
use his utmost endeavours to raise him from death to life. He now 
descends through nine subterranean passages, where sights and 
sounds of the most terrific character conspire to excite his ima- 
gination. He finally enters the sacellum, or holy place, and finds 
Balder enthroned in a distinguished seat. The aspirant was now 
received, as in the mysteries of Egypt, with acclamations of joy 
and welcome, and the Scalds, or sacred bards, like the priests of 
Isis, chanted hymns descriptive of the generation of the gods and 
the creation of the world. The initiation was then terminated by 
the administration of the oath of fidelity already described. J 

SCARLET. The emblematic colour of the Royal Arch degree. 
It is significant of the zeal and ardour which should inspire the 



* Oliver, Hist. Initiat. p. 256. f See tbe article Coffin. 

% Oliver, Hist, of Initiat., lect. x. 



SCH— SCO 431 

possessors of that august summit of our ritual. It was also the 
colour of one the vails in the sacred tabernacle. The Hebrew 
words carmil, shani, and tolahht, are indifferently rendered by our 
translators, as crimson, or scarlet. The words appear to have been 
synonymous among the Jews, and to have signified a bright 
red colour. The colour was much worn by great men. 

SCHROEDER'S RITE. This is a rite consisting of the de- 
grees of Ancient Craft Masonry and a few higher ones which are 
devoted to the study of other Masonic systems. It was invented 
by Frederick Lewis Schroeder who established it at Hamburg in 
1801. The Hamburg Masons were induced to reject the high, 
degrees of Scottish Masonry and to adopt his simpler rite. Through, 
the representations of Clavel, who too harshly calls him the Cag- 
liostro of Germany, I was led, in previous editions of this work, 
to express an opinion of Schroeder, which subsequent investiga- 
tions have led me greatly to modify. 

SCIENCES LIBERAL. See Arts Liberal. 

SCOTCH MASON. Ecossais. The 5th degree of A he 
French rite. In this degree is related the manner in which the 
sacred word was preserved through the skill and wisdom of oui 
ancient brethren. The American degree of " Select Master" ap- 
pears to be little more than a modification of this interesting degree. 
See Ecossais. 

A tradition contained in this degree may be interesting to the 
Master Mason. "We there learn that HAB engraved the W.\ 
upon a triangle of pure metal, and fearing that it might be lost, 
he always bore it about his person, suspended from his neck, with 
the engraved side next to his breast. In a time of great peril to 
himself, he cast it into an old dry well, which was in the south- 
east corner of the temple,* where it was afterwards found by three 

* The Ineffable degrees of the Ancient Scotch rite .«ay in the north side of 
the temple, which is more consistent with probability. 



432 SCO 

Masters. They were passing near the well at the hour of meri- 
dian, and were attracted by its brilliant appearance ; whereupon, 
one of them descending by the assistance of his comrades, obtained 
it, and carried it to King Solomon. What was his disposition of 
it is known to the Royal Arch Mason. 

SCOTCH RITE, ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED. Thir rite, 
which was organized in its present form in France, early in the 
eighteenth century, derives its title from the claim made by those 
who established it in that country, that it was originally instituted 
in Scotland, a claim whose validity is now generally disputed. It 
is, next to the York rite, perhaps the most extensively diffused 
throughout the masonic world. Supreme Councils, or lodges of 
this rite, exist in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, 
the United States, and many other countries. The administra- 
tive power of the rite is deposited in Supreme Councils of Sove- 
reign Grand Inspectors General, one of which Councils only can 
exist in a nation, except in the United States of America, where 
there are two, one at Charleston, in South-Carolina, for the South, 
and one at Boston, for the North.* 

The Scotch rite, or as it is now more usually designated, the 
Ancient and Accepted rite, consists of thirty-three degrees, divi- 
ded as follows : 

1. Entered Apprentice. 

2. Fellow-Craft. 

3. Master Mason. 

These degrees are conferred in a symbolic lodge, and differ 
only in a few points from the same degrees as conferred in a lodge 
of the York rite. 

4. Secret Master. 

5. Perfect Master. 

6. Intimate Secretary. 

7. Provost and Judge. 

* See Supreme Council. 



SCO 433 

8. Intendanfc of the Buildings. 

9. Elected Knights of Nine. 

10. Illustrious Elect of Fifteen. 

11. Sublime Knights Elected. 

12. Grand Master Architect. 

13. Knight of the Ninth Arch. 

14. Grand Elect, Perfect and Sublime Mason. 

These degrees are conferred in a body called a Lodge of Per- 
fection, the presiding officer of which must be in possession of the 
16th degree. 

15. Knight of the East. 

16. Prince of Jerusalem. 

These two degrees are conferred in a body called a Council of 
Princes of Jerusalem. 

17. Knight of the East and West. 

18. Sovereign Prince of Rose Croix. 

These two degrees are conferred in a body called a Chapter of 
Princes of Hose Croix. 

19. Grand Pontiff. 

20. Grand Master of all Symbolic lodges. 

21. Noachite, or Prussian Knight. 

22. Knight of the Royal Axe, or Prince of Libanus. 

23. Chief of the Tabernacle. 

24. Prince of the Tabernacle. 

25. Knight of the Brazen Serpent. 

26. Prince of Mercy, or Scotch Trinitarian. 

27. Sovereign Commander of the Temple. 

28. Knight of the Sun. 

29. Grand Scotch Knight of St. Andrew. 

30. Grand Elect Knight Kadosh. 

31. Grand Enquiring Commander. 

32. Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret. 

These degrees, from the 19th inclusive, are conferred in a body 
designated as a Consistory of Princes of the Royal Secret, but 



434 SCO— SEA 

they confer the 30th, 31st, and 3 2d, only as the proxies of the 
Supreme Councils. 

33. Sovereign Grand Inspector Generals. 

This degree is given in a body called the Supreme Council, 
which is the administrative head of the rite. 

For further details, see the article Supreme Council. 

SCOTCH TRINITARIAN. See Prince of Mercy. 

SCRIBE. The Scribe is the third officer in a Royal Arch 
Chapter, and is the representative of Haggai. The JSophar, or 
Scribe, in the earlier Scriptures, was a kind of military secretary, 
but in the latter he was a learned man, and doctor of the laws, 
who expounded them to the people. Thus Artaxerxes calls Ezra 
the priest, "a Scribe of the law of the God of heaven." Home* 
says that the Scribe was the King's Secretary of State, who re- 
gistered all acts and decrees. It is in this sense that Haggai is 
called the Scribe in Royal Arch Masonry. 

SCYTHE. This is one of the melancholy emblems in the 
Master's degree, reminding us of the rapid flight of time, and 
that death, with inexorable haste, will visit alike the prince's 
palace and the peasant's hut. 

SEAL. No masonic document is valid beyond the jurisdic- 
tion in which the lodge from which it emanates, resides, unless 
it have appended to it the seal of the Grand Lodge. Foreign 
Grand Lodges never recognise the transactions of subordinate 
lodges out of their jurisdiction, unless the good standing of the 
said lodges is guaranteed by the seal of their Grand Lodge, and 
f .he signatures of the proper officers. 

SEAL OF SOLOMON. This is a double triangle, and is 

* Introduction to Scriptures, iii. 93. 



SEC 435 

al c o sometimes called the "- Shield of David." For its form, see the 
article Triangle, doable Richardson, in his Persian and Arabic 
Dictionary, says, that the muhr Soliman, or Seal of Solomon, was 
two triangles interlaced. The Orientalists attributed many virtues 
to this seal, and the Talmudists say that it was inscribed on the 
foundation stone of the Temple. 

SECRECY. The objection which has been urged against 
Freemasonry on the ground of its secret character, is scarcely 
worthy of serious refutation. It has become threadbare, and 
always has been the objection only of envious and illiberal minds. 
Indeed, its force is immediately destroyed, when we reflect that 
to no worthy man need our mysteries be, for one moment, covered 
with the veil of concealment, for to all the deserving are our 
portals open. But the traditions and esoteric doctrines of our 
order are too valuable and too sacred to be permitted to become 
the topic of conversation for every idler who may desire to oc- 
cupy his moments of leisure in speculations upon subjects which 
require much previous study and preparation to qualify the critic 
for a ripe and equitable judgment. Hence are they preserved, 
like the rich jewel in its casket, in the secret recesses of our 
lodge, to be brought forth only when the ceremonies with which 
their exhibition is accompanied, have inspired that solemnity of 
feeling with which alone they should be approached. 

SECRETARY. An officer who records the proceedings and 
conducts the correspondence of the lodge. The office of Grand 
Secretary, in the Grand Lodge, was created in the year 1722, 
under the Grand Mastership of the Duke of Wharton, the duties 
having been previously performed by the Grand Wardens.* 

SECRET MASTER. The fourth degree of the Ancient 
Scotch rite, and the first of what are called the " Ineffable or 

* See Anderson's Constitutions, p. 205. 



436 SEC— SEE 

Sublime degrees." In it is explained the mystic meaning of 
those things which are contained in the Sanctum Sanctorum 
The Master represents Solomon coming to the temple to elect 
seven experts to replace the loss of an illustrious character. He 
is styled Most Powerful. There is one Warden who represents 
the noble Adoniram, who had the inspection of the workmen on 
Mount Libanus, and who was the first Secret Master. The lodge 
is clothed with black, and enlightened by eighty-one lights, ar- 
ranged by nine times nine. 

The jewel of this degree is an ivory key, on which is en- 
graved the letter Z, suspended from a white ribbon edged with 
black. 

The apron is white, edged with black; the flap blue, and an 
All-Seeing Eye engraved thereon. The white is emblematic of 
candour and innocence, the black of grief. 

SECRET MONITOR. A side degree very extensively known 
in the United States, and which is intended to strengthen the 
bonds of fraternal affection which should exist among all Ma- 
sons. During its ceremonies, which are very simple, the beauti- 
ful and affecting history of the friendship between David and 
Jonathan, which is contained in the twentieth chapter of the first 
book of Samuel, is recited. 

SEEING. One of the five human senses, whose importance 
is treated of in the Fellow-Craft's degree. By sight, things at a 
distance are, as it were, brought near, and the obstacles of space 
overcome. So in Freemasonry, by a judicious use of this sense, 
in modes which none but Masons comprehend, men distant from 
each other in language, in religion and in politics, are brought 
near, and the impediments of birth and prejudice are overthrown. 
But, in the natural world, sight cannot be exercised without the 
necessary assistance of light, for in darkness we are unable to 
see. So in the Mason, the peculiar advantages of masonic sight 
require, for their enjoyment, the blessing of masonic j ght Illu- 



SEL 437 

initiated by its divine rays, the Mastn sees where others arc 
blind j and that which to the profane is bnt the darkness of igno- 
rance, is to the initiated filled with the light of knowledge and 
understanding. 

SELECT MASTER. The same observations that have been 
made in relation to the degree of Royal Master, are applicable 
to this, as they are both intimately connected. It records the 
traditions connected with the concealment of important mysteries 
at the building of the first temple, and furnishes an important 
link in the great chain of history which connects the incidents 
of Ancient Craft Masonry with those that constitute the essence 
of the Royal Arch. 

In the United States, the Royal Arch is considered as the 
seventh degree, those of Mark Past and Most Excellent Master 
being interposed between it and the third. In one or two of the 
States, however, the Royal and Select Masters have been inserted 
after the Past and before the Most Excellent, and within a few 
years an attempt has been made to make this innovation general. 

This has arisen from a recent controversy on the subject of 
jurisdiction. The Royal and Select degrees belonged originally 
to the Supreme Councils of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, and 
were conferred under their authority, and by their deputies. 
This authority and jurisdiction these Councils no longer claim } 
and, for many years past, through their negligence, the Councils 
of Royal and Select Masters, in most of the States, have been 
placed under the control of independent jurisdictions called 
Grand Councils. Like all usurped authority, however, this claim 
of the State Grand Councils does not seem to have ever been 
universally admitted, or to have been very firmly established. 
Repeated attempts have been made to take the degrees out of the 
hands of the Councils, and to place them in the chapters, there 
to be 3onferred as preparatory to the Royal Arch. The General 
Grand Chapter, in the triennial session of 1847, adopted a reso- 
lution, granting this permission to all chapters in States where 

37* 



438 SEN— SER 

no Grand Councils exist. But, seeing the manifest injustice and 
inexpediency of such a measure, at the following session of 1850, 
it refused to take any action on the subject of these degrees. In 
1853 it disclaimed all control over them, and forbade the chap- 
ters under its jurisdiction to confer them. 

There is no doubt in my own mind that the true jurisdiction 
of these degrees was vested in the Supreme Councils of the 
Ancient and Accepted Rite, and that they should be conferred 
rather as illustrations of, than as preparatory to, the Royal Arch. 
The Royal Arch degree itself contains the most essential parts 
of the legends of these degrees, and can be understood without 
them, although they furnish many additional particulars which 
it would be interesting to the masonic student to know. 

SENIOR WARDEN. See Wardens. 

SENSES. The five human senses are Seeing, Hearing, Feel- 
ing, Smelling, and Tasting ; of which the first three are, for cer- 
tain well known reasons, held in great estimation among Masons. 
Their nature and uses form a part of the instruction of the de- 
gree of Fellow-Craft. See them under their respective titles. 

SENTINEL. An officer in a Royal Arch Chapter, in a 
Council of Knights of the Red Cross, and in a Commandery of 
Knights Templar, whose duties are similar to those of a Tiler in 
a symbolic lodge. 

SERPENT. The serpent obtained a prominent place among 
the symbols of the Spurious Freemasonry of the earliest ages. 
Among the Egyptians, it was the symbol of Divine Wisdom, 
when extended at length, and the serpent with his tail in his 
mouth was an emblem of eternity. The winged globe and ser- 
pent symbolized their triune deity. In the ritual of Zoroaster, 
the serpent was a symbol of the universe. In China, the ring 
between two serpents was the symbol of the world governed by 



SEV 439 

the power and wisdom of the Creator. The same device with, it 
is presumed, the same signification, is several times repeated on 
the Isiac table, which shows the universality of the symbol. Tn 
fact, serpent worship was one of the earliest deviations from the 
true system, and in almost all the ancient rites we find same al- 
lusion to this reptile. At the orgies of Bacchus,* the serpents 
were carried in the hands, or crowned the heads of the Baccha- 
nalians, while frequent cries of u Eva, Eva/' were frantically 
uttered. One of the ceremonies in the rites of Jupiter Sabasius 
was to let a serpent slip down the back of the person to be initi- 
ated. According to Plutarch, the women of Mount Haemus, in 
Thrace, practised similar rites. According to Bryant, the wor- 
ship of the serpent began in Chaldea, and thence passed into 
Egypt, where the serpent-god was called Can-oph, Can-eph, and 
C'neph. The Ethiopians introduced it into Greece. And so 
long did the serpent worship continue, that it is mentioned by 
Tertullian, and other fathers, as ooe of the early heresies of the 
Church, and practised by a sect called Ophites. Oliver says, 
that in Christian masonry the serpent is an emblem of the fall 
and subsequent redemption of man. I do not, however, myself, 
deem it as a pure masonic symbol. When used, I suppose it to 
be with its ancient signification of Divine Wisdom and Eternity; 
accordingly as it is exhibited in a lengthened form, or convoluted 
with its tail in its mouth 

SEVEN. The number seven, among all nations, has been 
considered as a sacred number, and in every system of antiquity 
we find a frequent reference to it. The Pythagoreans called it a 



* The Greek name of Bacchus is Dionysus, an account of whose mysteries 
is to be found in this volume. Wilford (Essay on Egypt, in the Asiatic Re- 
searches) supposes this deity to have been identical with the Hindoo god, 
Deva-Nahusha, popularly called Deo-Nausb. Now Faber (Home Mosaicae) 
derives Dionysus from this Deo-Naush, and Naush fram the Hebrew wore' 
£2^rn> or Naash, a serpent, making Dionysus, or Deo-Naash, equivalent 
therefore, to the god Naash, or the serpent-god. 



440 SEV 

venerable number, because it referred to the creation, and be- 
cause it was made up of the two perfect figures, the triangle and 
the square. Among the Hebrews, the etymology of the word 
shows its sacred import; for, from the word p]3fc^ (shebang,) 
seven , is derived the verb y^\£? (shabang,) to swear, because 
oaths were confirmed either by seven witnesses, or by seven vic- 
tims offered in sacrifice, as we read in the covenant of Abraham 
and Abimelech.* (Gen. 21-28.) Hence, there is a frequent 
recurrence to this number in the Scriptural history. The Sab- 
bath was the seventh day; Noah received seven days' notice of 
the commencement of the deluge, and was commanded to select 
clean beasts and fowls by sevens ; seven persons accompanied him 
into the ark; the ark rested on Mount Ararat in the seventh 
month ; the intervals between despatching the dove, were, each 
time, seven days ; the walls of Jericho were encompassed seven 
days, by seven priests, bearing seven rams' horns ; Solomon was 
seven years building the temple, which was dedicated in the 
seventh month, and the festival lasted seven days ; the candle- 
stick in the tabernacle consisted of seven branches, and finally, 
the tower of Babel was said to have been elevated seven stories 
before the dispersion. 

Among the heathens, this number was equally sacred. f A 
few instances of their reference to it, may be interesting. There 
were seven ancient planets, seven Pleiades, and seven Hyades; 
seven altars burnt continually before the god Mithras; the Ara- 
bians had seven holy temples ; the Hindoos supposed the world 
to be enclosed within the compass of seven peninsulas ; the Goths 

* The radical meaning of XJ^W, * s sufficiency or fulness, and the number 
seven was thus denominated, because it was on the seventh day that God com- 
pleted his work of creation; and "hence," says Parkhurst, "seven was both 
among believers and heathens the number of sufficiency or completic n."-- 
Lexic. N. T. in voc. cnra. 

f Cicero, in his Dream of Scipio, calls it the binding knot of all thiny* . 
"qui numerus rerum omnium fere nodus est." Som. Scrip. 5. And Plato. ,i. 
his Timaeus, taught that the soul of the world, " anima mundana," was gene- 
rated out of the number seven. 



SEV 441 

Had seven deities, viz. : the Sun, the Moon, Tuisco, "Woden, 
Th or, Friga, and Seatur, from whose names are derived our days 
of the week ; in the Persian mysteries were seven spacious 
caverns, through which the aspirant had to pass ; in the Grothic 
mysteries, the candidate met with seven obstructions, which were 
called the " road of the seven stages ; and finally, sacrifices were 
always considered as most efficacious when the victims were seven 
in number.* 

*An anonymous writer adds the following to the list above cited, of the 
consecrations of the number seven : 

"In six days earth's creation was perfected — the seventh was consecrated to 
rest. If Cain be avenged sevenfold, Lamech seventy and sevenfold. Abra- 
ham pleaded seven times for Sodom ; he gave seven ewe lambs to Abimelech 
for a well of water. Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and also another 
seven years. Joseph mourned seven days for Jacob. Laban pursued after 
Jacob seven days' journey. The seven years of plenty, and the seven years 
of famine, were foretold in Pharaoh's dream by the seven fat and lean beasts, 
and the seven ears of blasted corn. The children of Israel were to eat un- 
leavened bread seven days. The young of animals were to remain with the 
dam seven days, and at the close of the seventh to be taken away. By the 
old law, man was commanded to forgive his offending brother seven times, but 
the meekness of the Saviour extended his forbearance to seventy times seven. 
On the seventh month a holy observance was commanded to the children of 
Israel, who fasted seven days, and remained seven days in tents. Every 
seventh year was directed to be a year of rest for all things, and at the end of 
seven times seven years commenced the jubilee ; they were to observe a feast 
seven days, after they had gathered in their corn and wine ; seven days they 
were to keep a solemn feast, as they had been blessed in the work of their 
hands. Every seventh year the land lay fallow. Every seventh vear there 
was a general release from all debts, and bondsmen were set free. Every 
seventh year the law was directed to be read to the people. If they were 
obedient, their enemies should flee before them seven ways; if disobedient, 
their enemies should chase them seven ways. Hannah, the mother of 
Samuel, in her thanks says, that the barren hath brought forth seven, as some 
Jewish writers say that his name answers to the value of the letters in the 
Hebrew word, which signify seven. Seven of Saul's sons were hanged to stav 
a famine. Jesse had seven sons, the youngest of whom ascended the throne 
ol Israel. The number of animals in sundry of their oblations, were limited 
to seven. Seven days were appointed for an atonement on the altar, and 
the priest's son was appointed to wear his father's garment seven days." 

Were it necessary, the list might be still further enlarged. 



442 . SHE— SHI 

In Freemasonry, seven is an essential and important number, 
and throughout the whole system the septenary influence extends 
itself in a thousand different ways. 

SHEKEL. A weight among the Hebrews, of which there 
were two kinds, the king's shekel, and that of the sanctuary ; 
the latter being double the value of the former. The common 
or king's shekel, which is the one alluded to, in the Mark de- 
gree, was worth about half a dollar. The shekel was not a coin, 
but a definite weight of gold or silver, which, being weighed out, 
passed as current money among the Hebrews. The half shekel 
has been adopted as the value of a mark, because it was the 
amount paid by each Israelite after he arrived at manhood, to- 
wards the support of the Temple, and was hence, palled tribute 
money. 

SHE KIN AH. The Divine presence manifested by a visible 
cloud resting over the mercy seat in the holy of holies. It first 
appeared over the ark when Moses consecrated the Tabernacle; 
and was afterwards, upon the consecration of the Temple by So- 
lomon, translated thither, where it remained until the destruction 
of that building. 

SHIBBOLETH. The word hSdEN in Hebrew, has two 
significations; 1, An ear of corn; and 2, A stream of water. This 
is the word which the Gileadites, by the order of Jeptha, required 
the Ephraimites to pronounce. As the latter were desirous of 
crossing the river Jordan, and as the word signifies a stream of 
water, it is probable that this meaning suggested it as an appro- 
priate test word on that occasion. The proper sound of the first 
letter of this word is sh, a harsh breathing which is exceedingly 
difficult to be pronounced by persons whose vocal organs have not 
been accustomed to it. Such was the case with the Ephraimites, 
who substituted for the aspiration the hissing sound of s. Their 
organs of voice were incapable of the aspiration and, therefore, as 



SHO 443 

the record has it, thej " could not frame to pronounce it right." 
The learned Burder remarks that in Arabia the difference of pro- 
nunciation among persous of various districts is much greater than 
in most other places, and such as easily accounts for the circum- 
stance mentioned in the passage of Judges.* Hutchinson, speak- 
ing of this word, rather fancifully derives it from the Greek ai^w, 
I revere , and Xidoq, a stone, and therefore, he says u Iiftohdov, 
Sibbolithon, Colo Lapidem, implies that they (the Masons) re- 
tain and keep inviolate their obligations, as the Jur amentum 
per Jovem Lapidem, the most obligatory oath held among the 
heathen." j" 

SHOE. Among the Ancient Israelites, the shoe was made 
use of in several significant ways. To put off the shoes, imported 
reverence, and was done in the presence of God, or on entering 
the dwelling of a superior. To unloose one's shoe and give it to 
another, was the way of confirming a contract. Thus we read in 
the book of Ruth, that Boaz having proposed to the nearest kins- 
men of Ruth, to exercise his legal right, by redeeming the land 
of Naomi which was offered for sale, and marrying her daughter- 
in-law, the kinsman being unable to do so, resigned his right of 
purchase to Boaz ; and the narrative goes on to say, " Now this 
was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming 
and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked 
off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour : and this was a testimony 
in Israel. Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. 
So he drew off his shoe." Ruth iv. 7, 8. 

As to the ancient custom of taking off the shoes as a mark of 
reverence, the reader is referred to the article Discalceation. 

SHOVEL. One of the working tools of a Royal Arch Mason 



* Burder's Oriental Customs, vol. ii. numb. 782. 
f Hutchinson, Spirit of Masonry, p. 113. 



444 SID— SIG 

The working tools of this degree are the Crow, Pickaxe and Shovel, 
which may be thus explained. 

The crow is an implement used to raise heavy stones, the pick- 
axe to loosen the soil and prepare it for digging, and the shovel 
to remove rubbish. But the Royal Arch Mason is speculatively 
taught to use them for a more glorious and exalted purpose. By 
them he is admonished to raise his thoughts above the corrupting 
influence of wordly-mindedness, loosening from his heart the hold 
of evil habits, and removing the rubbish of passions and preju- 
dices that he may be fitted, when he thus escapes from the capti- 
vity of sin, for the search and the reception of Eternal Truth and 
Wisdom. 

SIDE DEGREES. These are degrees, which have generally 
been the invention of Grand Lectures, but which have no con- 
nection with the ritual of masonry, and whose legality is not ac- 
knowledged by Grand Lodges. Some of them are very interesting, 
with an evident moral tendency, while others again, are trifling, 
and with no definite nor virtuous object in view. The worst of 
them, however, can only be considered, in the language of Preston, 
as u innocent and inoffensive amusements." 

SIGNATURE. A Mason receiving from a lodge a certificate, 
is required to affix in the margin his signature in his usual hand- 
writing, as a means of identifying the true owner from a false 
pretender, in case the certificate should be lost, and thus come 
into the possession of any one not legally entitled to it. See Ne 
Varietur. 

SIGNET. A private seal set in a ring. The ancient Ori- 
entalists engraved names and sentences on their seals, a custom 
which the modern Mohammedans continue to follow. Many of 
these signet rings have, within a few years past, been dug up in 
Egypt, having the letters of a name cut in cameo on one side, and 
a figure of the sacred beetle on the other A signet was often 



SIT— SOL 445 

given by the owner to another person, and served in such a case 
as a pass, investing the receiver with all the anthority possessed 
by the giver. 

Signets were originally engraved altogether upon stone, and, 
according to Pliny, metal ones did not come into use until the 
time of Claudius Caesar. The signet of Zerubbabel was, therefore, 
most probably of stone. The signet of Solomon is said to have 
been an interlaced, double triangle within a circle, and having 
the name of God engraved thereon. 

SITUATION OF THE LODGE. See East. 

SIX PERIODS, THE GRAND ARCHITECT'S. "The 
Grand Architect's six periods" is an expression used by Masons 
to designate the six days of the Creation. Our masonic books 
dilate upon them as a proper means of stimulating the Mason to 
industrious labour during the week, that he may be enabled to rest 
upon the Sabbath, to contemplate the glorious works of Creation 
and adore their great Creator. 

SMELLING. One of the five human senses, and as the 
recipient of the numerous fragrant odours that arise from the 
flowers of the field and other objects of nature and art, a source 
of enjoyment to man. 

SOLOMON. King of Israel and First Grand Master of 
Freemasonry. His history is full of interest to the fraternity. 
He was the son of David and Bathsheba, and was born in the 
year of the world 2871. Of him it had been prophecied to his 
father, " Behold a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man 
of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round 
about; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace 
and quietness unto Israel in his day. He shall build a house for 
my name, he shall be my son, and I will be his father ; and I 



446 SOL 

will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.'* 
1 Chron. xxii. 9, 10. 

Solomon had scarcely commenced his reign, when he began 
" to prepare for the fulfilment of his father's last solemn injunc- 
tions to build a temple to the Most High. With this view he 
applied for help to the most powerful of his allies, Hiram, King 
of Tyre, a prince of a liberal disposition, who, far from envying 
Solomon's wealth and fame, cordially assisted him, and supplied 
him, not only with the proper materials, but also with labourers, 
and above all with an architect of surpassing skill in every kind 
of cunning workmanship. Solomon now appointed a tribute to 
be laid on all the people, of 30,000 labourers, whom he divided 
into three classes of 10,000 in each. Each of these classes 
worked one month in cutting timber on Mount Lebanon, and 
then rested two. Over these he placed Adoniram as Junior 
Grand Warden. There were also 80,000 masons, and 70,000 
labourers or men of burden, the remains of the old Canaanites, 
who are not reckoned among the masons, and 3300 overseers, 
with 300 rulers, making in all 183,600 persons engaged upon 
the Temple, of whom 113,600 were masons. 

The Temple was begun on Monday, the 2d day of the month 
Zif, corresponding to the 21st of April, in the year of the world 
2992, and 1012 years before the Christian era, and was com- 
pleted in a little more than seven years, on the 8th day of the 
month Bui, or the 23d of October, in the year of the world 
2999, during which period no sound of axe, hammer, or other 
metallic tool was heard, every thing having been cut and framed 
in the quarries or on Mount Lebanon and brought properly pre- 
pared to Jerusalem, where they were fitted up by means of 
wooden mauls. 

" The Old Constitutions aver," (I \iere quote from Anderson,) 
"that some short time before the consecration of the Temple, 
King Hiram came from Tyre, to take a view of that mighty edi- 
fice, and to inspect the different parts thereof, in which he was 
accompanied by King Solomon and the Deputy Grand Master, 



SOR 447 

Hiram Abif ; and after his view thereof declared the Temple to 
be the utmost stretch of human art. Solomon here again re- 
newed the league with Hiram, and made him a present of the 
Sacred Scriptures translated into the Syriac tongue, which, it is 
said, is still extant among the Maronites and other Eastern Chris- 
tians, under the name of the old Syraic version." 

Solomon next employed the craft in the construction of other 
works, such as his two palaces at Jerusalem, and his house of the 
forest of Lebanon, besides several cities, the most magnificent of 
which was Tadmor or Palmyra. 

But although Solomon had now become the most renowned of 
all the princes of his time, exceeding in riches and wisdom all 
who had gone before him, he, at length, forsook the law of his 
fathers, and began to worship the false gods of his strange wives. 
During his idolatry, he built temples to Chemosh, Moloch, and 
Ashtaroth. But repenting of his grievous sin, about three years 
before his death, he exclaimed, " Vanity of Vanities, all is Van- 
ity !" He died at the age of fifty-eight, in the year of the world 
3029, and before Christ 975. 

Solomon is supposed to preside, or rather the Master is his 
representative, in Lodges of Fellow-Crafts, Master Masons, Mark, 
Past and Most Excellent Masters, and in Councils of Select 
Masters, and also in several of the Ineffable degrees. See more 
on this subject under the title Temple, Organization at the. 

SORROW LODGES. It is the custom among Masons on 
the continent of Europe to hold special lodges at stated periods, 
for the purpose of commemorating the virtues and deploring the 
loss of their departed members and other distinguished worthies 
of the fraternity who have died. These are called Funeral or 
Sorrow lodges. In Germany they are held annually; in France 
at longer intervals. A French lodge in New York, " L'Union 
Francaise," holds them decennially. Sorrow lodges have also, 
out not lately, been held by a French lodge in Charleston, S. C, 
H La Candeur." The custom has been pursued by two lodges in 



448 SOU— SOY 

New York, "Pythagoras, No. 86/' and " St. John's, No. 6," 
and they are also now frequently held by bodies of the Ancient 
Scottish rite. The custom is a good one, that is, eminently 
consistent with the principles of Freemasonry, and which I 
should rejoice to see universally adopted by American lodges. 
On these occasions the lodge is clothed in the habiliments of 
mourning and decorated with the emblems of death, solemn 
music is played, funeral dirges are chanted, and eulogies on the 
life, character and masonic virtues of the dead are delivered. 

SOUTH. When the sun is at his meridian height, his invi- 
gorating rays are darted from the south. When he rises in the 
east, we are called to labour; when he sets in the west, our daily 
toil is over ; but when he reaches the south, the hour is high 
twelve, and we are summoned to refreshment. 

SOVEREIGN COMMANDER OF THE TEMPLE. Sou- 
verain Commandeur du Temple. The 27th degree of the An- 
cient Scotch rite. The presiding officer is styled " Most Illus- 
trious and Most Valiant," the Wardens are called " Most Sover- 
eign Commanders," and the Knights " Sovereign Commanders. " 
The place of meeting is called a " Court." The apron is flesh- 
coloured, lined and edged with black, with a Teutonic cross en- 
circled by a wreath of laurel and a key beneath, all inscribed in 
black upon the flap. The scarf is red bordered with black, 
hanging from the right shoulder to the left hip, and suspending 
a Teutonic cross in enamelled gold. The jewel is a triangle of 
gold, on which is engraved the ineffable name in Hebrew. It is 
suspended from a white collar bound with red and embroidered 
with four Teutonic crosses. 

Vassal, Ragon, and Clavel are all wrong in connecting this de- 
gree with the Knights Templar, with which order its own ritual 
declares that it is not to be confounded. It is without a lecture. 
Vassal expresses the following opinion of this degree : 

" The 27th degree does not deserve to be classed in the Scotch 



SOV 449 

rite as a degree, since it contains neither symbols nor allegories 
that connect it with initiation. It deserves still less to be ranked 
among the philosophic degrees. I imagine that it has been in- 
tercalated only to supply an hiatus, and as a memorial of an order 
once justly celebrated/'* 

SOVEREIGN GRAND INSPECTOR GENERAL. The 

33d and last degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scotch rite. 
Its members constitute a Supreme Council, which is the chief 
tribunal of masonry in that rite. This degree was instituted in 
the year 1786, under the following circumstances. By the con- 
stitutions of the Scotch rite, which were ratified on the 25th of 
October, 1762, the King of Prussia was proclaimed as its chief, 
with the title of Sovereign Grand Inspector General and Grand 
Commander. The higher councils and chapters could not be 
opened without his presence, or that of a substitute appointed by 
him. All the transactions of the Consistory of the 32d degree, 
then the highest, required his sanction, or that of his substitute, 
and various other masonic prerogatives were attached to his office. 
No provision had, however, been made in the constitutions for his 
successor; and, as it was absolutely necessary that some arrangement 
should be made by which the supreme power should not become 
extinct on his death, the king established the 33d degree, out 
of the possessors of which the Supreme Council is formed, a body 
possessing all the masonic rights and prerogatives formerly ex- 
ercised by the King of Prussia. See Supreme Council. 

The order or badge of the degree is a white sash, four inches 
broad, edged with gold fringe, and suspended from the right 
shoulder to the left hip. At the bottom is a red and white rose, 
and on the part that crosses the breast must be a triangle of gold 
surroun led by a sun, and within the triangle the figures 33. On 
each side of thi;- emblem, at the distance of two inches, must be 
a drawn digger. 



Vassal, Cours Magonique, p. 507. 
38* 



450 SOV— SPE 

The jewel is a black-double beaded eagle of Prussia, with goL 
den beaks and crowned with an imperial crown of gold, holding a 
naked sw^rd in his claws. 

There is no apron worn in this degree. 

The motto of the order is Deus meumque Jus, " God and my 
right." 

SOVEREIGN MASTER. The presiding officer in a Coun- 
cil of Knights of the Red Cross. He represents Darius, King 
of Persia. 

SPECULATIVE MASONRY. Freemasonry is called spe- 
culative masonry, to distinguish it from operative masonry, which is 
engaged in the construction of edifices of stone. Speculative ma- 
sonry is a science, which, borrowing from the operative art its 
working tools and implements, sanctifies them, by symbolic in- 
struction, to the holiest of purposes — the veneration of God, and 
the purification of the soul. 

The operative mason constructs his edifice of material substan- 
ces; the speculative mason is taught to erect a spiritual building, 
pure, and spotless, and fit for the residence of him who dwelleth 
only with the good. The operative mason works according to the 
designs laid down for him on the trestle board by the architect ; 
the speculative is guided by the great trestle board, on which is 
inscribed the revealed will of God, the Supreme Architect of 
heaven and earth; the operative mason tries each stone and part 
of the building by the square, level and plumb ; the speculative 
mason examines every action of his life by the square of morality, 
seeing that no presumption nor vain glory has caused him to 
transcend the level of his allotted destiny, and no vicious pro* 
pensity has led him to swerve from the plumb line of rectitude. 
And lastly, as it is the business of the operative mason, when his 
work is done, to prove every thing "true and trusty," so is it the 
object of the speculative mason, by a uniform tenor of virtuous con 
duct, to receive, when his allotted course of life has passed, the inap- 



SPH— SPU 451 

ptsciable reward, from his Celestial Grand Master, of ""Well done, 
thou good and faithful servant." 

SPHINX. A fabulous monster, to which the ancients give 
the face of woman and the body of a lion. It is found in great 
abundance on Egyptian monuments, and Plutarch says that it 
was always placed before the temples of the Egyptians to indicate 
that their religion was enigmatical. As a symbol of mystery it 
has been adopted as a masonic emblem. 

SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY. Dr. Oliver, one of the most 
learned and philosophic Masons of this or perhaps any other time, 
contends that "the science which we now denominate Speculative 
Masonry was coeval, at least, with the creation of our globe, and 
that the far-famed mysteries of idolatry were a subsequent insti- 
tution, founded on similiar principles, with the design of convey- 
ing unity and permanence to the false worship, which it otherwise 
could never have acquired." This schism from the pure and 
original source has been designated by the name of the Spurious 
Freemasonry of Paganism, to distinguish it from the purer system, 
which this theory supposes to have descended in a direct and un- 
interrupted line to the Freemasons of the present day. 

In a later work, Dr. Oliver still further explains his idea of the 
spurious Freemasonry. The legends and truths which were 
transmitted pure through the race of Seth, were altered and cor- 
rupted by that of Cain, and much confusion arose in consequence 
of the frequent intercommunications of these two races before the 
Deluge, though the truth would still be understood by the faith- 
ful. Of these was Noah, who, out of all these deviations of the 
antediluvians, was enabled to distinguish truth from falsehood, 
and to transmit the former in a direct line, according to Rosenberg, 
through Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kelhoth, Amram, 
Moses, Joshua, the Elders, the Prophets and the wisemen to So- 
lomon. Hence Freemasons are sometimes called Noachidao, the 
descendants and disciples of Noah. 



452 SQU 

But Ham had been long familiar with the corruptions if the 
system of Cain and with the gradual deviations from truth which 
had crept into the system of Seth, and after the deluge he pro- 
pagated the worst features of both systems among his descendants, 
out of which he or his immediate posterity formed the institution 
known, by way of distinction, as the Spurious Freemasonry.* 

Such is the theory advanced on this subject which is now very 
generally admitted by masonic writers. The doctrine is, however, 
imperfect, unless we advance one step further. 

The spurious Freemasonry had descended through the Gymno- 
sophists of India to Egypt, and thence into Greece, and perhaps 
by a different route to Scandinavia and the northern nations of 
Europe. Among all these it appeared in the form of initiations 
and mysteries whose legends bore just sa-much of the remains of 
truth as to evince their divine origin, and yet so much of false- 
hood as to demonstrate their human corruption. 

There was, in after times, a communication between one branch 
of this spurious Freemasonry and the true system. This took 
place at the Temple of Solomon, between the Jewish Masons and 
the Dionysian Artificers, when true Freemasonry borrowed its 
present organization from the greater practical wisdom of the 
Dionysian, without, however, surrendering any of its truth. And 
the bond of this union between the two bodies which had so long 
divided the world, was Hiram Abif, who was himself a member 
of both systems — of the true system by birth, as the son of Jewish 
parents — and of the spurious by profession and residence, as an 
artificer of Tyre. 

SQUARE. The square is an angle of ninety degrees or the 
fzurth part of a circle. It is one of the working to< Is of a 
Fellow Craft, and the distinctive jewel of the Master of a lodge. 
The square is an important implement to operative masons, for 



* Oliver's Histor. Landmarks, i. 60. 



STA 453 

by it they are enabled to correct the errors of the eye, and to ad- 
just with precision the edges, sides, and angles of their work. 
The nicest joints are thus constructed, and stones are fitted with 
accuracy, to fill their destined positions. Not less useful is this 
instrument to speculative masons, as a significant emblem of mo- 
rality. As, by the application of the square, the stone is tried 
and proved, so, by the application of the principles of morality, 
each action of human life is judged, and approved or condemned, 
as it coincides with, or deviates from, those eternal and immu- 
table principles. And as the stone, that on inspection with the 
square does not prove " true and trusty," is rejected or its de- 
fects amended, so each action that is not consistent with the dic- 
tates and rules of morality is carefully avoided by him who 
wishes to erect a mental structure of virtue, that shall afford him 
honour in life and repose in death. 

And hence, as it is the duty of the Master of the lodge to 
preserve among its members a strict attention to moral deport- 
ment, and to mark and instantly correct the slightest deviation 
from the rules of propriety and good conduct, the square is ap- 
propriately conferred upon him as the distinctive jewel of his 
office. 

Masons are said to part on the square, because having met to- 
gether, their conduct should be such that, when they part, no 
unkind expression or unfriendly action shall have deranged that 
nice adjustment of the feelings, which alone unites them in a 
band of brothers ; an adjustment which can only be preserved 
by a constant application of the square of morality. 

STANDARD BEARER. An officer in a Commandery of 
Knights Templar, whose duty is sufficiently explained by hi? 
title. A similar officer exists in a Council of Knights of the, 
Red Cross. 

STAR. The star with five points, which is fouid among the 



454 STA 

emblems of the Master's degree, is an allusion to the five points 
of Fellowship, or summary of a Mason's duty to his brother.* 

The blazing star in the centre of the Mosaic pavement, is an 
emblem of that Divine Being, whose beneficence has chequered 
the dark field of human life with brighter spots of happiness. 
Those brethren who delight to trace our astronomical symbols to 
the cradle of that science, Egypt, and to the Egyptian priests, 
its earliest cultivators, find in the seven stars depicted on the 
Master's carpet, a representation of the Pleiades, and in the 
blazing star an allusion to the dog-star, which the Egyptians 
called Anubis or the barker, because its rising warned them of 
the inundation of the Nile, which always quickly followed its 
appearance, and thus admonished them to retire from the lower 
grounds, just as the barking of a dog admonishes his master of 
approaching danger. 

* It is dangerous to differ in opinion, on a masonic subject, from Brother 
Moore, the Editor of the Magazine published at Boston (a work, my numerous 
obligations to which, I may as well take this opportunity of acknowledging); 
but in his opinion of the five-pointed star, I cannot, unfortunately, agree witb 
him. In his Magazine, (vol. iv. no. 5,) he remarks, that "it has no explana- 
tion in the degree, and is not a masonic emblem as genuine masonry is prac- 
tised in this country." The star of five points, so far as my opportunities 
reach, has been adopted in all our lodges, and if no explanation of it is given 
in our lectures, its manifest allusion is well understood. It is, therefore, as 
much a masonic emblem, as the equilateral triangle, which has the same uni- 
versal acceptation among the fraternity, without receiving any notice in our 
lectures. 

While on the subject of the star with five points, I cannot refrain from re- 
cording an interesting historical document, for which, by the bye, I am in- 
debted to the work in which this emblem is denounced as unmasonic. At a 
celebration of the Festival of St. John the Baptist, in 1844, at Portland, 
Maine, R.\ W.\ Brother Teulon, a member of the Grand Lodge of Texas, in 
reply to a toast complimentary to the Masons of that republic, observed, 
" Texas is emphatically a masonic country ; all our Presidents and Vice-Pre- 
sidents, and four-fifths of our State officers, were and are Masons : our national 
emblem, the ' Lone Slar, — was chosen from among the emblems selected by 
Freemasonry, to illustrate the moral virtues — it is a Jive-pointed star, and al- 
ludes to the Jive points oj J'elloicship." — See Moore's Freemason's Mag. vol. Hi., 
p. 309. 



STA 455 

In the English ritual, and formerly in our cwn, the star is 
said to be commemorative of that star which appeared to guide 
the wise men of the East to the place of our Saviour's birth. 

In the Spurious Freemasonry of the Egyptians, the blazing 
star was the symbol of Horus the son of Isis — the sun — the pri- 
mordial principle of existence. 

STATISTICS OF MASONRY. The universality of ma- 
sonry is not more honourable to the order, than it is advanta- 
geous to the brethren. From East to "West, and from North to 
South, over the whole habitable globe, are our lodges dissemi- 
nated. Wherever the wandering steps of civilized men have 
left their foot-prints, there have our temples been established. 
The lessons of masonic love have penetrated into the wilderness 
of the West, and the red man of our soil has shared with his 
more enlightened brother the mysteries of our science : while 
the arid sands of the African desert have more than once been 
the scene of a masonic greeting. The Mason, indigent and des- 
titute, may find in every clime a brother, and in every land a 
home. 

The evidence of these assertions will be found in the following 
table of the countries in which Freemasonry is openly and avow- 
edly practised, by the permission of the public authorities. 
Such places as Austria, where, owing to the suspicious intolerance 
of the government, the lodges are obliged to be holden in private, 
are not mentioned. Italy and Hungary should be added. 

I. Europe. 

Anhalt-Bernburg, Malta, 

Anhalt-Dessau, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 

Bavaria, Norway, 

Belgium, Portugal, 

Bremen, Posen, Duchy of 

Brunswick, Prussia, 

Denmark, Prussian-Pcland, 



456 



STA 



England, 


Saxe, 


France, 


Saxe-Coburg, 


Frankfort-on-Maine, 


Saxe-Gotha, 


Guernsey, Isle of 


Saxe-Hilberghausen, 


Hamburg, 


Saxe-Meningen, 


Hanover, 


Saxe-Weimer, 


Hesse-Darmstadt, 


Saxony, 


Holland, 


Schwartzenberg-Rudolstadt, 


Holstein Oldenburg, 


Scotland, 


Ionian Islands, 


Spain, 


Ireland, 


Sweden, 


Jersey, Isle of 


Switzerland, 


Lubeck, 


Wurtemburg. 


Luxemburg, 




II 


. Asia. 


Ceylon, 


Persia, 


China, 


Pondicherry, 


India, 


Turkey, 


III. 


OCEANICA. 


New South Wales, 


Sumatra. 


Java, 


Sandwich Islands. 


IV. 


Africa. 


Algeria, 


Guinea, 



Bourbon, Isle of Mauritius, 

Canary Islands, Mozambique, 

Cape of Good Hope, Senegambia, 

Goa, St. Helena. 



Antigua, 

Barbadoes, 

Bermudas, 



V. America. 

Martinico, 
New Brunswick, 
Nova Scctia, 



STE 407 



Brazil, 


Panama, 


Canada, 


Peru, 


Colombia, 


Rio de la Plata, 


Cuba, 


St. Bartholomew's, 


Cura9oa, 


St. Christopher's, 


Dutch Guiana, 


St. Croix, 


English Guiana, 


St. Eustatia, 


French Guiana, 


St. Martin, 


Grenada, 


St. Thomas, 


Guadeloupe, 


St. Vincent, 


Hayti, 


Trinidad, 


Jamaica, 


United States, 


Labrador, 


Venezuela. 


STEWARDS. Officers in a 


symbolic lodge, whose appoint- 


3nt is generally vested in the 


Junior Warden. Their duties 



are, to assist in the collection of dues and subscriptions ; to pro- 
vide the necessary refreshments, and make a regular report to 
the Treasurer ) and generally to aid the Deacons and other offi- 
cers in the performance of their duties. The jewel of the office 
is a cornucopia. 

STEWARDS' LODGE. The Stewards' or Grand Stewards- 
lodge, which still exists in some jurisdictions under peculiar local 
regulations, as a Standing Committee on Grievances, Charity, 
&c, was originally instituted on the 2J:th of June, 1735. In 
that year, says Anderson, upon an address from those that had 
been Stewards, the Grand Lodge, in consideration of their past 
services and future usefulness, ordained that they should be con- 
stituted a lodge of Masters, to be called the Stewards' lodge; to 
be registered as such in the Grand Lodge book and printed lists, 
with the times and place of their meetings, and that they should 
have the privilege of sending twelve representatives to tue 
Grand Lodge, namely, a Master, two Wardens, and nine more 

39 



458 STO— SUB 

STONE OF FOUNDATION. Masonry ;ontains a legend 
of a cubical stone, on which was inscribed the sacred name 
within a mystical diagram. This stone is knewn as the " stone 
of foundation." For its history, see Cubical Stone. 

STRENGTH. One of the three principal supports of ma- 
sonry. It is represented by the Doric column and the S.*. W.\, 
because the Doric is the strongest and most massy of the orders, 
and because it is the duty of the S.\ W.\, by an attentive super- 
intendence of the craft ; to aid the W.\ M.\ in the performance 
of his duties, and to strengthen and support his authority. 
Hiram, King of Tyre, is also considered as the representative of 
the column of strength which supported the temple. 

SUBLIME. In York masonry, this is the epithet applied to 
t He Master's degree. It alludes to the sublime nature of the 
doctrines taught in that degree, which are the resurrection of 
the body and the immortality of the soul. 

SUBLIME GRAND LODGE. Sometimes called the Inef- 
fable Lodge, or Lodge of Perfection. It is, in the Ancient 
Scotch rite, the lodge which confers the degrees from the fourth 
to the fourteenth inclusive. It must derive its Warrant of Con- 
stitution from a Grand Council of the Princes of Jerusalem, or 
from a higher council, or Sovereign Grand Inspector General. 

SUBLIME KNIGHT ELECTED. Sublime Chevalier (In. 
The 11th degree in the Ancient Scotch rite, sometimes called 
" Twelve Illustrious Knights." After vengeance had been taken 
upon the traitors already mentioned in the decrees of Elected 
Knights of Nine and Illustrious Elected of Fifteen, Solomon, to 
reward those who had exhibited their zeal and fidelity in inflict- 
ing the required punishment, as well as to make room for the 
exaltation of others to the degree of Illustrious Elected of Fif- 
teen, appointed twelve of these latter, chosen by ballot to consti- 
tute a new degree, on which he bestowed the name of Sublime 



sub 4m 

Knights Elected, and gave them the command over the twelve 
tribes of Israel. The Sublime Knights rendered an account each 
day to Solomon of the work that was done in the temple by 
their respective tribes, and received their pay. The lodge is 
sailed a Grand Chapter. Solomon presides, with the title of 
Thrice Puissant, and instead of Wardens, there are a Grand In- 
spector and a Master of Ceremonies. The room is hung with 
black, sprinkled with white and red tears. 

The apron is white, lined and bordered with black, with black 
strings; on the flap, a flaming heart. 

The sash is black, with a flaming heart on the breast, sus- 
pended from the right shoulder to the left hip. 

The jewel is a sword of justice. 

This is the last of the three Elus which are found in the An- 
cient Scotch rite. In the French rite they have been condensed 
into one, and make the fourth degree of that ritual, but not, as 
Ragon admits, with the happiest effect. 

SUBLIME PRINCE OF THE ROYAL SECRET. Sou- 
verain Prince du Royal Secret. The 32d degree, and until the 
year 1786, when the 33d was instituted by Frederick, King of 
Prussia, the summit of the Ancient Scotch rite. The members 
are styled the Guardians of the Treasure of the Temple. Its 
meetings are called Consistories. The 32d degree can only be 
conferred by authority of the Supreme Council of the 33d. 
This degree furnishes a history peculiar to itself, of the origin of 
masonry, and an explanation of the symbolic meaning of the 
preceding degrees. 

Its oflicers are numerous. The principal ones are a Thrice 
Illustrious Grand Commander, two Thrice Illustrious Lieutenant 
Grand Commanders, a Miuister of State, Grand Chancellor, 
"3 rand Treasurer, and Grand Secretary. 

The hangings of a Consistory are black, strewed with tears 

'"Vbe jewel is a Teutonic cross. The apron is white, bordered 



460 SUB— SUN 

with black, and on it is inscribed the tracing-board of the degree 
On the flap of the apron is a double-headed eagle. 

SUBSTITUTE WORD. The true English translation of 
this most important word has been most miserably distorted and 
corrupted by illiterate lecturers. A moderate acquaintance with 
the Hebrew language would have shown its correct meaning, and 
that when first used it was but a natural expression of horror 
and astonishment uttered by King Solomon. Its signification 
may be discovered by a reference to the separate syllables of 
which it is composed, and which are to be found in their alpha- 
betical order in the present work. The intelligent mason by 
putting them together in their proper order will obtain the whole 
sentence. On such a subject I cannot, of course, be more ex- 
plicit. It may, however, be observed, in conclusion, that there 
can be no doubt that the word originally consisted of four sylla- 
bles, by which an equal, alternate division was made, and that in 
its present form it has been subjected to much corruption, the 
fourth or last syllable being now altogether omitted in pronun- 
ciation. 

SUCCOTH. A town of Judea, 34 miles north-east of Jerusa- 
lem, near which Hiram Abif cast the sacred vessels of the Tem- 
ple. See Clay Grounds. 

SUN AND MOON. The sun and the moon, with the Master 
of the lodge, are depicted in the lodge by the three lesser lights, 
whose presence are to instruct the last that he should exercise 
the same regularity and precision in the superintendence of his 
lodge, as the two others exhibit in their government of the day 
and night. 

In all the Pagan initiations, we find traces of these symbols 
which, as in masonry, were represented by the three superior 
officers of the mysteries. In Greece, the Hierophant, or reveuhr 
of sacred things, the Daduchus or torch-bearei and Ho epi bo- 



SUP 461 

aios, or altar-server, were the representatives of the Creator, the 
sun and moon, while the Ceryx or herald, as a Deacon, repre- 
sented Mercury, who was the messenger of the gods. In the 
mysteries of India, the chief officers were placed in the east, the 
west, and the south, respectively to represent Brahma, or the 
rising; Vishnu, or the setting; and Siva, or the meridian sun. 
In the Druidical rites, the Arch-druid, seated in the east, was 
assisted by two other officers, the one in the west representing 
the moon, and the other in the south, representing the meridian 
sun.* 

The sun and the moon are preserved in our lodges, as emblems 
of the wisdom, and power, and goodness of G-od, who made the 
one to rule the day, and the other to govern the night ; but the 
heathens, in departing from the true light, which masonry has 
preserved, confounded the creature with the Creator, and gave 
that adoration to the instruments which should only have been 
paid to the First Great Cause. 

Hence the origin of sun-worship, which was one of the first 
deviations from pure and patriarchal religion, and the evidence 
of which is to be found in the earliest mysteries of Osiris in 
Egypt, of Adonis in Phenicia, and of Mithras in Persia. 

SUPER EXCELLENT MASTER. A degree which is 
sometimes conferred in Councils of Select Masters. It is founded 
on circumstances that occurred at the destruction of the Temple 
by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. Its presiding officer is 
called "Most Excellent King," and represents Zedekiah, the 
last King of Judah. The historical incidents of this degree, 
but less in detail, are to be found in the first part of the Royal 
Arch. 

I have the ritual of another degree of Super Excellent, given 
in Ireland, preparatory to the Royal Arch. But it is, or seems 



* Oliver, Signs and Symbols, p. 203. 
39* 



462 SUP 

to be, a modification of the Most Excellent Master of the Amer- 
ican rite, and the Perfect Master of the Ancient Scotch rite. 

SUPPORTS OF THE LODGE. The institution of masonry, 
venerable for its antiquity, and its virtuous character, is said to 
be supported by Wisdom, /Strength, and Beauty ; for the wisdom 
of its eminent founders was engaged in its first design ; the 
strength of its organization has enabled it to survive the fall of 
empires, and the changes of languages, religions, and manners 
which have taken place since its formation ; and the beauty of 
holiness is exhibited in the purity and virtue that it inculcates, 
and in the morality of life which it demands of all its children. 

Our lodges, thus supported, will find in these columns another 
analogy to their great prototype, the Temple of Jerusalem. Foi 
that mighty fabric was designed by the ivisdom of Solomon, 
King of Israel, who found strength to carry on the great under- 
taking in the assistance and friendship of Hiram, King of Tyre; 
and beauty to adorn the structure in the architectural skill and 
taste of Hiram, the widow's son. 

SUPREME COUNCIL OF GRAND INSPECTORS GEN- 
ERAL. The supreme masonic authority of the Ancient Scotch 
rite. It was established in 1786, by Frederick II., King of 
Prussia, for the purpose of exercising, after his death, the ma- 
sonic prerogatives which he personally possessed as the acknow 
ledged head of the rite. Not more than one Supreme Council 
can exist in each nation,* which wis originally composed of nine 
members, called Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, five of whom, 
at least, were to profess the Christian religion. This rule is now 
abolished, and the number of members has been increased. Its 
officers are as follows, all of whom are elected for life : — 

A Most Puissant Grand Commander, who is the representative 
r>f Frederick II., King of Prussia. 



* Two are permitted in the United States. 



SUP 463 

A Most Illustrious Lieutenant Grand Commander, representing 
Louis of Bourbon. 

An Illustrious Treasurer General of the Holy Empire. 

An Illustrious Secretary General of the Holy Empire. 

A.n Illustrious Grand Master of Ceremonies. 

An Illustrious Captain of the Guards. 

The following account of the institution of the Supreme Coun- 
cil I have condensed from Dalcho,* and other authorities. 

In 1761, the lodges and councils of the superior degrees, being 
extended throughout the continent of Europe, Frederick II., 
King of Prussia, as Grand Commander of the order of Prince of 
the Royal Secret, was acknowledged as the head of the Scotch 
rite. The Duke of Sudermania was his deputy in Sweden, and 
Louis of Bourbon in France. 

On the 25th of October, 1762, the Grand Masonic Constitu 
tions were finally ratified in Berlin, and proclaimed for the 
government of all masonic bodies working in the Scotch rite 
over the two hemispheres. 

In the same year, they were transmitted to Stephen Morin, 
who had been appointed in August, 1761, Inspector General for 
the New World , by the Grand Consistory of Princes of the Royal 
Secret, convened at Paris, under the presidency of Chaillon de 
Joinville, Substitute General of the order. 

When Morin arrived in the West Indies, he, agreeably to his 
patent, appointed a Deputy Inspector General. This honour was 
conferred on M. Hayes, with the power of appointing others 
where necessary. 

Hayes appointed Isaac Da Costa, Deputy Inspector General 
for the State of South Carolina, who, in 1783, established a 
Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection in Charleston. After Da 
Costa's death, Joseph Myers was appointed to succeed him by 
Hayes, who also appointed Solomon Bush, Deputy Inspector 
General for Pennsylvania, and Barend M. Spitzer for Georgia ; 

* Orations, p. 68. 



464 SUP 

which appointments were confirmed by a Council of Inspectors 
that convened in Philadelphia on the 15th of June, 1 ""81. 

On the 1st of May, 1786, the Grand Constitutions of the 
Supreme Council of the 33d degree were ratified by the King of 
Prussia, by which the masonic prerogatives of Inspectors were 
deposited in a council consisting of nine brethren in each nation 

On the 20th of February, 1788, a Grand Council of Princes 
of Jerusalem was opened in Charleston, by Myers, Spitzer, and 
A. Forst, Deputy Inspector General for Virginia. 

In 1795, Col. John Mitchell was appointed by Spitzer a Deputy 
Inspector General, in the place of Myers, who had removed, but 
he was restricted from acting until after Myers' death, which 
took place in the following year. 

On the 31st of May, 1801, the Supreme Council of the 33d 
degree was opened in Charleston with the grand honours of ma- 
sonry, by John Mitchell and Frederick Dalcho, Sovereign Grand 
Inspectors General, and in the course of the succeeding two 
years, the whole number of Inspectors General was completed. 

On the 5th day of August, 1813, a similar Supreme Council 
was, in accordance with the Secret Constitutions, duly and law- 
fully established and constituted at the city of New York,* by 
Emanuel De La Motta, as the representative, and under the sanc- 
tion and authority of the council at Charleston. The masonic 
jurisdiction of the New York council is distributed over the 
northern, north-western, and north-eastern parts of the United 
States. And this, with the council at Charleston, are the onfa 
recognised councils which exist, or can exist, according to the 
Secret Constitutions in the United States. 

This was the origin of the Scotch rite in the United States 
of which there now exist two Supreme Counci s; one at Charles 
ton, S. C, and the other in the city of Boston both bodies being 
in active operation. 



The seat of this Council has lately been removed to Boston. 



SUS— SAVE 465 

SUSPENSION. A masonic punishment by which a party is 
temporarily deprived of his rights and privileges as a mason. 
Suspension may be definite or indefinite in the period of its dura- 
tion. A mason who has been indefinately suspended can be re- 
stored only by a vote of the body which suspended him. One 
who has been suspended for a definite period is restored by the 
termination of that period, without any special action of the 
lodge. 

SWEDENBORG, RITE OF. We have seen in the article 
" Illuminati of Avignon/' that the religious dogmas of Sweden- 
borg were brought, in the middle of the eighteenth century, (the 
great season of rite-making,) to the aid of masonry for the pur- 
pose of manufacturing a new rite. In 1783, the Marquis de 
Thome modified the system which has been adopted in the lodge 
of Avignon, to suit his peculiar views, and thus instituted what 
is properly known as the rite of Swedenborg. It consists of six 
grades, namely : 1, Apprentice ; 2, Fellow-Craft ; 3, Master 
Theosophite ; 4, Illuminated Theosophite ; 5, Blue Brother ; 6, 
Red Brother. 

It is still practised in some lodges in the north of Europe. 

SWEDISH RITE. Sweden at first adopted the rite of 
Strict Observance, but this was afterwards modified by Count 
Zinnendorf, and the rite now practised by the Grand Lodge of 
Sweden consists of twelve degrees, the fifth of which gives its 
possessor civil rank in the kingdom. The degrees, which have 
been very slightly altered since the time of Zinnendorf, are as 
follows : — 

1, Apprentice; 2, Fellow-Craft; 3, Master ; 4, Apprentice 
and Fellow-Craft of St. Andrew; 5, Master of St. Andrew; 6, 
Knight of the East; 7, Knight of the West; 8, Knight of the 
South, or Favourite Brother of St. John; 9, Favourite Brother 
of St. Andrew; 10. Member of the Chapter; 11, Dignitary of 
the Chapter; 12, Reigning Grand Master. The last three de- 
grees constitute the " Illuminated Chapter." aud no one can be 



466 SWO—SYM 

."dinitted a Grand Dignitary unless he can show four quarters in 
his coat-of-arnis. 

SWORD BEARER, An officer in a council of Knights of 
the Red Cross, and in a Commandery of Knights Templar, whos.-> 
station is in the west, on the right of the Standard Bearer, ana 
when the knights are in line, on the right of the second division. 
His duty is, to receive all orders and signals from the Grand 
Commander and see them promptly obeyed. He is, also, to 
assist in the protection of the banners of his order. His jewel 
is a triangle and cross swords. 

The Grand Sword Bearer is also an officer of a Grand Lodge, 
whose duty it is to carry the Sword of State in public proces- 
sions. In some Grand Lodges he receives the title of Grand 
Pursuivant. 

SWORD POINTING TO THE NAKED HEART. A 

symbol of that Divine justice which must, sooner or later, over- 
take all who have sinned; for, though man looketh to the out- 
ward appearance, God looketh to the heart alone, which, conceal- 
ing its inmost passions from the world, is naked and open to his 
All-Seeing Eye. 

It is an emblem of the Master's degree. 

SYMBOL. A sensible image used to express an occult but 
analogical signification. Almost all the instruction given in ma- 
sonry is by symbols. Such was also the case in the ancient 
mysteries. " The first learning in the world," says Stukoly, 
" consisted chiefly in symbols. The wisdom of the Chaldeans, 
Phenicians, Egyptians, Jews, of Zoroaster, Sanchoniathon, Phe- 
recydes, Syrus, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, of all the ancients 
that is come to our hand, is symbolical. It was the mode, says 
Serranus, on Plato's Symposium, of the ancient philosophers to 
represent truth by certain symbols and hidden images." 

Symbols were first adopted by the Egyptian priests for the 
purpose of secrecy; they concealing, by their use, those pro- 



SYM 4C7 

found speculations which constituted the apporeta of their mys- 
teries, and which they were unwilling to divulge to the unpre- 
pared and uninitiated vulgar. From the Egyptians, Pythagoras 
received a knowledge of this symbolical mode of instruction, and 
communicated it to the sect of philosophy which he afterwards 
instituted. 

According to Porphyry, there was this distinction between the 
hieroglyphic and symbolic method of writing among the Egyp- 
tians : that the former expressed the meaning by an imitation 
of the thing represented, as when the picture of smoke ascend- 
ing upwards denoted fire; and the latter allegorizing the subject 
by an enigma, as when a hawk was used to signify the sun, or a 
fly to express the quality of impudence.* The former of these 
methods was open to all who chose to learn it ; the latter was 
reserved by the priests for the purpose of mystic instruction, 
and was, as I have already said, communicated only to the ini- 
tiated. 

The symbols, says Warburton,-)* were of two kinds, tropical 
and enigmatical. The tropical, which were the more natural, 
were made by employing the more unusual properties of things 
to express subjects. Thus, a cat signified the moon, because the 
pupil of her eye was observed to be dilated at the full and con- 
tracted at the decrease of that satellite.]; The tropical were con- 
stituted by the mystical assemblage of two or more things whose 
combined properties expressed a particular quality. Thus, a 
beetle, with a round ball' in its claws, denoted the sun, because 
this insect makes a ball of dung, which he rolls in a circular 
direction, and with his face looking towards the sun.§ 

But the priests, in adopting the symbol, as a depository of 



iWeyop^jxkvoiv \ara riva; atviyfiovs. — De Vlt. Pythag. xi. 15. 

f Divine Legation, vol. iii. 141. 

\ Such is Plutarch's account of this symbol; but I am not aware that modern 
zoologists support this theory of lunar ■influence. N'imporU , the Egyptians !"« 
tiered it, and that is all that the argument requires. 

£ Clem. Alexnnd. Stromata. 



4f,8 SYM— TAB 

their secret doctrines, were not contented with the use of it to 
designate only substances; their mystic instruction was of too 
elaborate a nature, to be satisfied with so circumscribed an alpha- 
bet; they next, therefore, had recourse to sensible objects, as a 
means of expressing mental and moral qualities ; thus, destruc- 
tion was expressed by the mouse, impurity by the goat, aversion 
by the wolf, knowledge by the ant; and the reason of the signi- 
fication, as well as the thing signified, formed a part of their 
upporeta, or secrets. 

This is the highest and most intellectual method of applying 
symbols, and it is the method adopted in Freemasonry, which, in 
its use of symbolic instruction, is an exact counterpart of the 
ancient mysteries. 

SYMBOLIC DEGREES. The first three degrees of Free- 
masonry, the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master 
Mason, are called in the Y'ork rite, symbolic degrees, because 
they abound in symbolic instruction, not to be found in the 
remaining degrees, which are principally historical in their 
character. 

SYMBOLIC LODGE. A lodge in which the symbolic de- 
grees are conferred; that is, a lodge of Entered Apprentices, 
Fellow Crafts, or Master Masons. 



T. 

TABERNACLE. The tabernacle was the place of worship, 
representing a temple, which God commanded Moses to construct 
in the wilderness for the religious service of the Jews, and in 
which the ark of the covenant and sacred vessels were kept until 
Solomon removed them into the temple. The tabernacle was so 
contrived as to be taken to pieces and put together again at plea- 
sure. The tabernacle was in shape a parallelogram fronting 



TAB— TAL 4€9 

the East, thirty cubits or forty-five feet in length, and ien cubits 
or fifteen feet in height and breadth. The inside was divided by 
a richly embroidered vail of fine linen into two parts, the holy 
place and the holy of holies, in the latter of which was placed the 
ark of the covenant. Besides this vail of fine linen which sepa- 
rated the most holy place, the tabernacle was furnished with other 
vails of divers colors : namely, of blue and purple, and scarlet 
and fine twined linen, from which are derived the emblematic co- 
lours of the several degrees of masonry.* 

The room in which a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons meets, is 
called the tabernacle, and is a representation of that temporary 
tabernacle which was erected by Zerubbabel near the ruins of 
old temple while the Jews, under his direction, were constructing 
the new one. 

TABERNACLE, CHIEF OF THE. See Chief of the 
Tabernacle. 

TABERNACLE, PRINCE OF THE. See Prince of the 
Tabernacle. 

TALMUD. As many of the traditions of masonry are to be 
found in the Talmud, some acquaintance with the character of 
that work is essential to the masonic student. % 

The Talmud, which is a Hebrew word, 11D 7j"I> s ig nr fyi n g doc- 
trine, is a collection of treatises written by the rabbins and wise men 
and embodying the civil and canonical law of the Jews. Moses 
is believed to have received two kinds of law on Mount Sinai, the 

* According to Josephus (Antiq. Jud. lib. Hi. c. 7.) the tabernacle was a sym- 
bol of the universe. The 12 loaves placed on the table were emblematic of the 
12 months of the year; the $"0 branches of the candlesticks represented the 
70 decani or divisions of the planets; and the 7 lamps, the 7 planets. The 
vails of the tabernacle composed of four different colours, were emblematic of 
the'four elements; the fine linen, made of flax, the produce of the earth, repre- 
sented the earth ; the purple represented the sea, because it was stained by the 
blood of a marine shell-fish, the murex ; the blue represented the air, it being 
the colour of the sky ; and the scarlet represented fire. 

40 



470 TAL 

one written and the other oral. The written law is to be found 
in the Pentateuch. The oral law was first communicated by 
Moses to Aaron, then by them to the seventy elders, and finally 
by these to the people, and thus transmitted, by memory, from 
generation to generation. This oral law was never committed to 
writing until about the beginning of the 3rd century,* when Rabbi 
Jehuda the Holy, finding that there was a possibility of its being 
lost from the decrease of students of the law, collected all the 
traditionary laws into one book, which is called the " Mishna," 
a word signifying repetition, because it is, as it were, a repetition 
of the written law. 

The Mishna was at once received with great veneration, and 
many wise men among the Jews devoted themselves to its study. 
Towards the end of the 4th century, Rabbi Jochanan, the presi- 
dent of a school at Tiberias in Palestine collected their several 
opinions on the Mishna, into one book of commentaries which he 
called the " GTemara," a word signifying completion, because the 
the Gemara completes the work. The Mishna and the Gemara 
united constitute the Talmud. 

The Jews in Chaldea, not being satisfied with the interpreta- 
tions in the work of Rabbi Jochanan, composed others, which 
were collected together by Rabbi Asche into another Gemara. 
The work of R. Jochanan has since been known as the " Jeru- 
salem Talmud" and that of R. Asche as the " Babylonian Tal- 
mud," from the places in which they were respectively compiled. 
In both works, the Mishna or Law is the same ; it is only the 
Gemara or commentary that is different. 

The Jewish scholars place so high a value on the Talmud, aa 
to compare the Bible to water, the Mishna to wine, and the Ge- 
mara to spiced wine; or the first to salt, the second to pepper, and 
the third to spices. This work, although it contains many pue- 



* Morin, how»ver, in his " Exercitationes Biblicae/' assigns the 6th century 
as the date of the composition. There is much con trover 'y on this subject 
among scholars. I have, in this article, given the dates agreed upon by the 
greater number. 



IAS— TAT 4"1 

rilities, is, however, extremely serviceable as an elaborate compen- 
dium of Jewish customs, and has therefore been much used in the 
criticism of the Old and New Testaments. It furnishes also many 
curious illustrations of the masonic system; and several of the 
traditions and legends, especially of the higher degrees, are either 
found in or corroborated by the Talmud. The treatise entitled 
" Middoth," for instance, gives us the best description extant of 
the Temple of Solomon. 

TASSELS. The Tracing-board of the Entered Apprentice's 
degree, when properly constructed, has a border or skirting around 
it, and at each corner a tassel attached to a cord or cable tow. 
These refer to the four perfect points and to the four cardinal 
virtues, and are called the guttural, pectoral, manual, and pedal 
tassels. They are also said in the English ritual to refer to the 
.four rivers of Paradise. 

TASTING. One of the five human senses, of but little im- 
portance in masonry, except as one of the sources of our enjoyment 
and protection, by enabling us to distinguish food which is pleasant 
and wholesome, from that which is disagreeable and unhealthy. 
Hence, for this as well as for every blessing of life, are we taught 
to be thankful to Him who is the " author of every good and 
perfect gift." 

TATNAI AND SHETHAR-BOZNAI. The names of two 
Persian governors who opposed the attempts of the Jews to re- 
build the temple. When, by the command of Artaxerxes, Zerub- 
babel and his followers had discontinued the rebuilding of the 
temple, which they had commenced by permission of Cyrus, his 
predecessor, they remained quiet until the reign of Darius, who 
succeeded Artaxerxes. They then recommenced the work, but 
Tatnai, the Persian governor on the Jewish side of the Euphra- 
tes, accompained by Shethar-Boznai and his companions, not 
being aware of the previous edict of Cyrus permitting the Jews to 



472 TAU 

rebuild, proceeded to Jerusalem, and demanded by what right 
they were rebuilding the temple ; and when the Jews informed 
them that they were working under the authority of a former decree 
of Cyrus, the Persian governors wrote to Darius, giving an account 
of these circumstances, and inquiring if such a decree was in ex- 
istence, and if it was the king's pleasure that it should still be 
obeyed. Darius, influenced by his friendship for Zerubbabel, 
who visited him on the occasion of this interference, gave orders 
not only that the Jews should not be molested, but that they 
should receive every assistance from the Persian officers in their 
pious undertaking of rebuilding the house of the Lord. 

TAU CROSS. The Tau Cross or Cross of St. Antony,* is a 
cross in the form of a Greek T. It was among the ancients a 
hieroglyphic of eternal life. It was the form of the Nilometer, 
or measure of the Nile, used to ascertain the height of the inun ; 
dation, upon which the prosperity of the country and the life of 
the inhabitants depended, and was, in consequence, used among 
the Egyptians as an amulet, capable of averting evil. Hence it 
was a favourite symbol of the Egyptians, and under the form of 
the " Crux ansata" was to be seen in all their temples, very often 
held in the hands of their deities or suspended from their necks. 
Jablonskif says it is the Egyptian representation of the Phallus, 
considered by some as the symbol of the deity, and by others as 
that of eternal life. Kircher thinks that the Crux ansata was a 
monogram denoting Mercury or Phtha, who was the conductor 
of the souls of the dead ; and Dr. ClarkeJ says that the tau cross 
was a monogram of Thoth, " the symbolical or mystical name of 
hidden wisdom among the ancient Egyptians ; the 6 Ed 2 of the 
Greeks." In the initiation in Hindostan the tau cross, under 
the name of "tiluk," was marked upon the body of the candidate, 
as a sign that he was set apart for the sacred mysteries. The 

* So called because it is said to have been the cross on which that saint suf- 
fered martyrdom. 

t Panth. Mgyvl i. 282. J Travels, vol. v. p. 311. 



TEM 4?3 

same mark was familiar to the ancient Hebrews, for, in the visioii 
of Ezekiel, it is thus alluded to : " Gro through the midst of the 
city, and set a mark, (in the original in> tail,) upon the foreheads 
of the men that sigh, and that cry, for all the abominations that 
be done in the midst thereof."* This mark was to distinguish 
them as persons to be saved on account of their sorrow for sin, 
from those who, as idolators, were to be slain, and its form was 
that of the Hebrew letter tau, which, in the ancient Phenician 
alphabet, and on the coins of the Maccabees, has the shape of a 
cross. 

Among the Druids it was the custom to consecrate a tree by 
cutting the form of a tau across upon its bark. In ancient times 
it was set as a mark on those who had been acquitted by their 
judges, and by military commanders on such of their soldiers as 
had escaped unhurt from battle, and hence it was considered as 
an emblem of life.~j" Finally, observe that the tau is the last 
letter of the Hebrew alphabet, as the Aleph is the first, and that 
the tau assumes in the Ancient Phenician and Samaritan alpha- 
bets the form of a cross, and we see another consecration of this 
symbol in the expression, " I am the Alpha and the Omega, the 
beginning and the end/' which, spoken in the Hebrew language, 
would be, " I am the Aleph and the Tau. "J 

We are not, therefore, to be surprised that the Tau Cross has 
been adopted as one of the symbols of Freemasonry, and that in 
the form of the Triple Tau it constitutes the most sacred emblem 
of the Royal Arch, symbolizing the fact that the possessors of 
that degree are consecrated and separated, or set apart, as the 
recipients of a sublime but hidden wisdom. See Triple Tau. 

TEMPERANCE. One of the four cardinal virtues, the 

* Ezekiel, ix. 4. The Septuagint has to o-rjustov, the mark, which Lowth sug- 
gests should read rav onueiov, the mark tau. 

•f- Oliver, Landmarks, ii. p. 621. 

J My esteemed friend, George R. Gliddon, Esq., the celebrated Egyptian 
Archaeologist, first called my attention to this illustration, which he extended 
gtill further, but on a subject irrelevant to the present occasion. 

40* 



474 TEM 

practice of which is inculcated in the first degree. The mason 
who properly appreciates the secrets, which he has solemnly pro- 
mised never to reveal, will not, by yielding to the unrestrained 
call of appetite, permit reason and judgment to lose their seats; 
and subject himself, by the indulgence in habits of success, to 
discover that which should be concealed, and thus merit and re- 
ceive the scorn and detestation of his brethren. And lest any 
brother should forget the danger to which he is exposed in the 
unguarded hours of dissipation, the virtue of Temperance is 
wisely impressed upon his memory, by its reference to the most 
solemn portion of the initiatory ceremony. 

TEMPLARS. See Knights Templar. 

TEMPLARS OF SCOTLAND. By the « Statutes of the 
Grand Priory of the Knights of the Temple," * of Edinburgh, 
Scotland, the Knights Templars have an organization very dif- 
ferent from that existing in any part of the world where this 
ancient and honourable order is to be found. Some account of 
it may, therefore, not be uninteresting. 

" The religious and military order of the Temple," in Scot- 
land, consists of two classes: 1. Novice and Esquire; 2. Knight 
Templar. The Knights consist of four grades : 1. Knights cre- 
ated by Priories; 2. Knights, elected from the Companions, on 
memorial to the Grand Master and Council, supported by the 
recommendation of the Priories to which they belong j 3. Knights 
Commanders ; 4. Knights Grand Crosses, to be nominated by 
the Grand Master. 

* According to the organization of the order in Scotland, it is not a pre- 
requisite qualification towards becoming a Knight Templar, that the candi- 
date should possess the preparatory Masonic degrees. The Knight Templar 
of Scotland is not, therefore, necessarily a Mason. I give this regulation, on 
the authority of Brother C. W. Moore. (Mag. vol. iv. p. 138.) 

Note. Since this was written, the regulation has been rescinded, and, as in 
the Statutes of April 13th, 1843, the Scotch Templar is now (1871) required 
to have previously received the Royal Arch degree. 



TEM 475 

The supreme legislative authority of the order is the Chapter 
General, which consists of the Grand Officers, the Knights Grand 
Crosses, the Knights Commanders, and the Prior of each Priory. 
One Chapter is held annually, at whicbrthne the Grand Master, 
if present, acts as President. At this meeting, which is on the 
11th of March, the Grand Officers are elected. 

During the intervals of the meetings of the Chapter General, 
the affairs of the order, with the exception of altering the Sta- 
tutes, is entrusted to the Grand Council, which consists of the 
Grand Officers elected by the Chapter, the Grand Priors of For- 
eign Langues, and the Knights Grand Crosses. 

The Grand Officers, with the exception of the Past Grand 
Masters, who remain so for life, the Grand Master, who is elected 
triennially, and the Grand Aides-de-Camp, who are appointed by 
him and removed at his pleasure, are elected annually. They 
are as follows : 

Grand Master, 

Past Grand Masters, 

Grand Seneschal, 

Preceptor and Grand Prior of Scotland, 

Grand Constable and Mareschal, 

Grand Admiral, 

Grand Almoner or Hospitaller, 

Grand Chancellor, 

Grand Treasurer, 

Grand Secretary and Registrar, 

Primate or Grand Prelate, 

Grand Provost or Governor-General, 

Grand Standard-Bearer or Beaucennifer, 

Grand Bearer of the Vexillum Belli, 

Grand Chamberlain, 

Grand Steward, 

Two Grand Aides-de-Camp. 

A Grand Priory may be instituted by the Grand Conclave, m 
any nation, colony or langue, to be placed under the authority 



47G TEM 

of a Grand Prior who is elected for life, un.ess superseded by 
the Grand Conclave. 

A Priory, which is equivalent to our Cominandery consists 
of the following officers : 

Prior, 

Sub-Prior, 

Mareschal or Master of Ceremonies, 

Hospitaller or Almoner, 

Chancellor, 

Treasurer, 

Secretary, 

Chaplain and Instructor, 

Beaucennifer, or Bearer of the Beauseant, 

Bearer of the Bed Cross Banner, or Vexillum Belli, 

Chamberlain, 

Two Aides-de-Camp, 

Band, Guards, etc. 

The Grand Conclave may unite two or more Priories into a 
Cominandery, to be governed by a Provincial Commander, who 
is elected by the Grand Conclave. 

The costume of the Knights, with the exception of a few 
slight variations to designate difference of rank, is the same as 
that described as the ancient costume in page 270, of this work 

TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. The Temple of the Lord,* at 
Jerusalem, was commenced by Solomon, King of Israel, in the 
year of the world 2992, and being finished in seven years and 
six months, was dedicated to the service of the Most High, in 
the year 3000. It stood on Mount Moriah, one of the eminences 
of the ridge, called in Scripture Mount Zion, and was originally 
the property of Oman the Jebusite, who used it as a threshing- 

* It is called in Scripture, hekal adonai, "the pdace of Jehovah," to inti- 
mate that its splendour and magnificence were not intended to reflect honour 
on those who constructed it, but only to prepare it as a fit dwelling for Him, 
who is the "King of kings and Lord of lords." 



TEM -J77 

floor, and from wnom it was purchased by King David, for the 
purpose of erecting an altar.* It retained its original splendour 
only thirty-four years, when Shishak, King of Egypt, took away 
its richest treasures ;f it was afterwards, in the eleventh year of 
the reign of Zedekiah, plundered and burnt by the Chaldeans, 
under Nebuchadnezzar.^ After the captivity, the. temple was 
rebuilt by Zerubbabel, with greater extent, but inferior glory. 

The temple was originally built on a very hard rock, encom- 
passed with frightful precipices. The foundations were laid very 
deep, with immense labour and expense. It was surrounded 
with a wall of great height, exceeding in the lowest part four 
hundred and fifty feet, constructed entirely of white marble. 

The temple itself, which consisted of the porch, the sanctuary, 
and the holy of holies, was but a small part of the edifice on 
Mount Moriah. It was surrounded with spacious courts, and 
the whole structure occupied at least half a mile in circumfe- 
rence. Upon passing through the outer wall, you came to the 
first court, called the court of the Gentiles, because the Gentiles 
were admitted into it, but were prohibited from passing farther. 
It was surrounded by a range of porticos or cloisters, above which 
were galleries or apartments, supported by pillars of white marble. 

Passing through the court of the Gentiles you entered the 
court of the children of Israel, which was separated by a low 
stone wall, and an ascent of fifteen steps, into two divisions, the 
outer one being occupied by the women, and the inner by the 
men. Here the Jews were in the habit of resorting daily for 
the purposes of prayer. 

Within the court of the Israelites, and separated from it by a 
wall one cubit in height, was the court of the priests. In the 
centre of this court was the altar of burnt offerings, to which 
the people brought their oblations and sacrifices, but none but 
the priests were permitted to enter it. 

From this court, twelve steps ascended to the temple, strictly 

*See 2 Sam. xxiv. 23, 24; 1 Chron. xxi. 25. f 2 Chron. xii. 9. 

X See Captivity. 



478 TEM 

so called, which, as I have already said, was divided into three 
parts, the porch, the sanctuary, and the holy of holies. 

The porch of the temple was twenty cubits in length, and the 
same in breadth. At its entrance was a gate made entirely of 
Corinthian brass, the most precious metal known to the ancients. 
Beside this gate there were the two pillars Jachin and Boaz, which 
had been constructed by the architect whom the King of Tyre 
had sent to Solomon, and which are thus described by Josephus : 
" Moreover this Hiram made two hollow pillars, whose outsidee 
were of brass, and the thickness of the brass was four fingers' 
breadth, and the height of the pillars was eighteen cubits, and 
their circumference twelve cubits ) but there was cast with each 
of their chapiters, lily work that stood upon the pillar, and it 
was elevated five cubits, round about which there was net-work, 
interwoven with small palms made of brass, and covering the 
lily work. To this also, were hung two hundred pomegranates 
in two rows."* 

From the porch you entered the sanctuary by a portal, 
which, instead of folding doors, was furnished with a magnificent 
vail of many colours, which mystically represented the universe. 
The breadth of the sanctuary was twenty cubits, and its length 
forty, or just twice that of the porch and holy of holies. It oc- 
cupied, therefore, one half of the body of the temple. In the 
sanctuary were placed the various utensils necessary for the daily 
worship of the temple, such as the altar of incense, on which in- 
cense was daily burnt by the officiating priest ; the ten golden 
candlesticks j and the ten tables on which the offerings were laid 
previous to the sacrifice. 

The HOLY OF HOLIES, or innermost chamber, was separated 
from the sanctuary by doors of olive, richly sculptured and inlaid 
with gold, and covered with vails of blue, purple, scarlet, and 
the finest linen. The size of the holy of holies was the same as 
that of the porch, namely, twenty cubits square. It contained 

* Antiq. lib. viii. c. 3. 



TEM 479 

the ark of the covenant, which had been transferred into it from 
the Tabernacle, with its overshadowing cherubim and its mercy- 
seat. Into the most sacred place, the High Priest alone could 
enter, and that only once a year, on the day of atonement. 

The temple, thus constructed, must have been one of the most 
magnificent structures of the ancient world. For its erection, 
David had collected more than four thousand millions of dollars,* 
and one hundred and eighty-four thousand six hundred men 
were engaged in building it for more than "seven years ; and 
after its completion it was dedicated by Solomon, with solemn 
prayer, and seven days of feasting ; during which, a peace-offer- 
ing of twenty thousand oxen and six times that number of 
sheep, was made, to consume which the holy lire came down 
from heaven. 

Thirty-three years after its completion this beautiful edifice 
was despoiled, in the reign of Jeroboam, by Shishak, King of 
Egypt, and finally burnt to the ground by Nebuchadnezzar, King 
of Babylon, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem carried as captives 
to that city in the year 588, B. C, during the reign of Zedekiah. 

TEMPLE, CLASSIFICATION OF THE WORKMEN 
AT THE. In 2 Chronicles, chap. ii. verses 17 and 18, we read 
as follows : 

"And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the 
land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father 
had numbered them ; and they were found an hundred and fifty 
thousand and three thousand and six hundred. 

" And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be 
bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the 
mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set 
the people a-work." 

The same numerical details are given in the 2d verse of the same 
chapter. Again, in 1 Kings, chap, v., verses 13 and 14, it is said : 

* One hundred and eight thousand talents of geld, and one million Feveil 
teen thousand talents of silver. 



480 TEM 

" And King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel ; and the 
levy was thirty thousand men. 

" And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by 
courses : a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at 
home : and Adoniram was over the levy." 

The succeeding verses make the same enumeration of work- 
men as that contained in Chronicles quoted above, with the ex- 
ception that by omitting the three hundred Harodim, or rulers 
over all, the number of overseers is stated in the book of Kings 
to be only three thousand three hundred. 

With these authorities, and the assistance of masonic traditions, 
Anderson constructs the following table of the craftsmen at the 
temple. 

Harodim, Princes, Rulers, or Provosts, 300 

Menatzchim, Overseers or Master Masons, 3,300 

Ghiblim, Stone Squarers, ") 

Ischotzeb, Hewers, [■ all Fellow Crafts, 80,000 

Benai, Builders, ) 

All the Freemasons employed in the work of the ) -, , n ~™ 
Temple, exclusive of the two Grand Wardens, j 

Besides the Ish Sahbal, or men of burden, the remains of 
the old Canaanites, amounting to 70,000, who are not numbered 
nmong masons. 

In relation to the classification of these workmen, Anderson 
says, " Solomon partitioned the Fellow-Crafts into certain lodges, 
with a Master and Wardens in each ; that they might receive 
commands in a regular manner, might take care of their tools 
and jewels, might be regularly paid every week, and be duly 
fed and clothed; and the Fellow-Crafts took care of their suc- 
cession by educating Entered Apprentices."* 

Josephus makes a different estimate. He includes the 3,300 
overseers in the 80,000 Fellow-Crafts, and makes the number of 
masons, exclusive of the 70,000 bearers of burdens, only 110,000. 

A woi-K published in 17G4, entitled the " Masonic Pocket 

* Constitutions, p. 22, ed. 1769. 



TEM 481 

Book/' gives a still different classification. The number, accord- 
ing to this work, was as follows : 

Harodini, .... 300 

Menatzchim, - - - 3,300 

Ghiblim, .... 83,000 

Adoniram, - - - 30,000 



Total, .... 116,000 Masons, 

which, with the 70,000 Ish Sabbal or labc irers, will make a 
grand total of 186,600 workmen. 

According to the authority of Webb, there were three Grand 
Masters, 3,300 Overseers, 80,000 Fellow-Crafts, and 70,000 En- 
tered Apprentices. This account makes no allusion to the 300 
Harodim, nor to the levy of 30,000. It is, therefore, manifestly 
incorrect. Indeed, I doubt whether we have any certain author- 
ity for the complete classification of the workmen, as neither the 
Bible nor Josephus gives any account of the number of Tyrians 
employed. Oliver,* however, has collected from the masonic 
traditions an account of the classifications of the workmen, which 
I shall insert, with a few additional facts, taken from authorities 
in my possession. 

According to these traditions, the following was the classifica- 
tion of the Masons who wrought in the quarries of Tyre 
6 Super-Excellent Masons, 
48 Excellent Masons, 
8 Grand Architects, 
16 Architects, 
2,376 Master Masons, 

700 Mark Masters, 
1,400 Markmen, 
53,900 Fellow-Crafts. 



58,454 Total. 



•See the whole subject treated at length in the 15th lecture >f his : ' lii.>- 
torieal Landmarks." 

41 



482 



TEM 



These were arranged a.s follows : The Super-Excellent Masons 
were divided . into two Grand Lodges, with three brethren in 
each to superintend the work. The Excellent Masons were di- 
vided into six lodges, of nine each, including one of the Super- 
Excellent Masons, who acted as Master. The eight Grand Ar- 
chitects constituted one lodge, and the sixteen Architects another. 
The Grand Architects were the Masters, and the Architects the 
Wardens of the lodges of Master Masons, which were eight in 
number, and consisted, with the officers, of three hundred each. 
The Mark Masters were divided into fourteen lodges of fifty in 
each, and the Markmen into fourteen lodges, also of one hundred 
in each. The Mark Masters were the Masters, and the Markmen 
the Wardens of the lodges of Fellow- Crafts, which were seven 
hundred in number, and with these officers consisted of eighty in 
each. 

The classification in the forest of Lebanon, was as follows : 

3 Super-Excellent Masons, 
24 Excellent Masons, 

4 Grand Architects, 
8 Architects, 

1,188 Master Masons, 
300 Mark Masons, 
600 Markmen, 
23,100 Fellow-Crafts, 
10,000 Entered Apprentices. 




35,227 Total. 

These were arranged as follows : The three Super-Excellent Ma- 
sons formed one lodge. The Excellent Masons were divided into 
three lodges of nine each, including one of the Super-Excellent Ma- 
sons as Master. The four Grand Architects constituted one lodge, 
and the eight Architects another, the former acting as Masters and 
the latter as Wardens of the lodges of Master Masons, which 



TEM 483 

were four in number, and consisted with these officers of three 
hundred in each. The Mark Masters were divided into six 
lodges of fifty in each, and the Markmen into six lodges of one 
hundred in each. These two classes presided, the former as 
Masters and the latter as Wardens in the lodges of Fellow- 
Crafts, which were three hundred in number, and were composed 
of eighty each, including these officers. 

After three years had been occupied in "hewing, squaring, 
and numbering," the stones, and " felling and preparing" the 
timbers, these two bodies of Masons united for the purpose of 
properly arranging the materials, so that no metallic tool might 
be required in putting them up, and they were then carried up to 
Jerusalem. Here the whole body was congregated under the 
superintending care of HAB, and to them were added four hun- 
dred and twenty lodges of Tyrian and Sidonian Fellow-Crafts, 
having eighty in each, and the twenty thousand Entered Appren- 
tices of the levy from Israel, who had been therefore at rest, 
and who were added to the lodges of Entered Apprentices, 
making three hundred in each, so that the whole number en- 
gaged at Jerusalem amounted to two hundred and seventeen 
thousand two hundred and eighty-one, who were arranged as 
follows : 

Nine lodges of Excellent Masons, nine in each, are - 81 

Twelve lodges of Master Masons, three hundred in 

each, are - - - - - 3,600 

One thousand lodges of Fellow-Crafts, eighty in each, 

are _..... 80,000 

Four hundred and twenty lodges of Tyrian Fellow- 
Crafts, eighty in each, are - 33,600 
One hundred lodges of Entered Apprentices, three 

hundred in each, are - 30,000 

Seventy thousand Ish Sabbal, or labourers, are - - 70,000 

Total - ... 217,281 



484 TEM 

Sucti is the system adopted by our English brethren; the 
American ritual has greatly simplified the arrangement. Ac- 
cording to the system now generally taught, the workmen at the 
building of the temple were classed as follows : 

Three Grand Masters. 

Three hundred Harodini, or chief superintendents, who may 
be called Past Masters.* 

Three thousand three hundred Master Masons, divided into 
lodges of three each. 

Eighty thousand Fellow-Crafts, who were also divided into 
lodges of five each. 

Seventy thousand Entered Apprentices, divided into lodges of 
seven each. 

According to this account, there must have been — 

One thousand one hundred lodges of Master Masons. 

Sixteen thousand lodges of Fellow-Crafts. 

Ten thousand lodges of Entered Apprentices. 

No account is here taken of the levy of thirty thousand, who 
are supposed not to have been Masons, nor of the builders of 
Hiram, whom the English ritual places at thirty-three thousand 
six hundred, and most of whom were, as I suppose, members of 
the Dionysiac fraternity. On the whole, the American system 
seems too defective to meet all the demands of the student, an 
objection to which the English is not so obnoxious. I should be 
rejoiced, therefore, to see this latter system, with some modifica- 
ti3ns, generally adopted by our Grand Lecturers. 

TEMPLE OF ZERUBBABEL. Cyrus, King of Persia, 
having liberated the Jews, seventy years from the commence- 
ment of their captivity, in the reign of Jehoiakim, and fifty-two 
years after the destruction of the Temple, forty-two thousand 



* They cannot according to our ritual, be Most Excellent Masters, because, 
according to the legend of that degree, it was not established until the Templo 
was completed. 



TEM 485 

three hundred and sixty of the liberated captives, by permission 
of the king, returned to Jerusalem under the guidance of Joshua 
the High Priest, Zerubbabel the Prince or Governor, and Haggai 
the Scribe, and two years after, that is, 535 years B. C, they 
laid the foundations of the second temple. They were, however, 
much disturbed in their labours by the Samaritans, whose offer 
to unite with them in the building they had rejected. Artaxerxes, 
known in profane history as Cambyses, having succeeded Cyrus 
on the throne of Persia, he forbade the Jews to proceed with the 
work, and the Temple remained in an unfinished state until the 
death of Artaxerxes and the succession of Darius to the throne. 
As in early life there had been a great intimacy between this 
sovereign and Zerubbabel, the latter proceeded to Babylon, and 
obtained permission from the monarch to resume the labour. 
Zerubbabel returned to Jerusalem, and notwithstanding some 
further delays consequent upon the enmity of the neighbouring 
nations, the second Temple, or as it may be called by way of dis- 
tinction from the first, the Temple of Zerubbabel, was completed 
in the sixth year of the reign of Darius, 515 years B. C, and 
just twenty years after its commencement. It was then dedi- 
cated with all the solemnities that accompanied the dedication of 
the first. 

This second Temple did not equal the first in the glory and 
splendour of its decorations — the ark of the covenant was lost, 
although, by the precautions of our ancient Grand Masters, an 
exact copy of it had been preserved amid the ruin and desolation 
of Jerusalem. Both the Shekinah, the glory of God, and the 
Bathkol, or oracle, were departed forever.* Still, there is much 
to interest the people in this second house of the Lord. The 
masonic stone of foundation, which had been safely deposited by 
the wisdom of the first Masons, was found and made the chief 

* The Jews say that there were five things wanting in the second temple, 
which had been in the first, namely: the Ark, the Urim and Thummin, the 
Bre from heaven, the divine presence, or cloud of glory, and the spirit of pro 
phecy and powei of miracles. 

41 * 



486 TEM— TES 

corner-stone, and all the holy vessels were returned by order of 
the King of Persia; the Tyrians again furnished timbers from 
the forest of Lebanon, and at length the cope-stone, on which 
seven eyes had been engraved by the express command of God, 
was celebrated with sacrifices and rejoicings. 

TEMPLE, ORDER OF THE. A masonic institution in 
France, whose members claim to be the lineal descendants of the 
Knights Templar. It appears, however, that this claim is un- 
founded, and that the society is only a masonic rite, in which 
something that they call a- continuation of the order of the Temp- 
lars, is engrafted on degrees borrowed from the Ancient Scotch 
rite. Originally the order of the Temple consisted of the follow- 
ing six degrees : 1, Apprentice ; 2, Fellow-Craft j 3, Master ; 4, 
Master of the East; 5, Master of the Black Eagle of St. John; 
6, Perfect Master of the Pelican. But in 1808, to disguise this 
evident masonic origin, the degrees received the following names : 
1, Initiate, (this is the degree of the Entered Apprentice;) 2, 
Initiate of the Interior, (this is the degree of Fellow-Craft;) 3, 
Adept, (this is the Master;) 4, Adept of the East, (the Illus- 
trious Elected of Fifteen of the Scotch rite ;) 5, Grand Adept of 
the Black Eagle of St. John, (the Elected Knights of Nine ;) 
these constitute the House of Initiation; 6, Postulant of the 
order, (Perfect Adept of the Pelican ;) this is called the House 
of Postulance, and is nothing but the Rose Croix of the Scotch 
rite; 7, Esquire; 8, Knight or Levite of the Interior Guard. 
These last degrees are called the Covenant, and are the same as 
the Scotch degree of the Knight of K-H.* 

TESSELATED BORDER. The skirting which surrounds 
the mosaic pavement. A late masonic writer suggests that the 
proper term is " tasselled border ;" the word tasselled alluding, 
he thinks, to the four tassels that are placed at the corners of the 

* Clavel Hist. Pittoresq., pp. 66, 214-219. 



TET 487 

tracing-board The suggestion is ingenious, but not correct. 
Tesselated means inlaid with various kinds of colours, or varie- 
gated with flowers, &c, and the word alludes to the variegated 
ornaments of the border. See Mosaic Pavement. 

TETRACTYS. {Greek, rerpaxrug, four. The tetractys was 
a sacred symbol of the Pythagoreans, which was 
expressed by ten jods disposed in the form of a 
j 5 5 triangle, each side containing four as in the 
? 5 ? 1 annexed figure. This they explained as fol- 
lows : — 
The one point represented the Monad, or active principle. 
The two points, the Duad, or passive principle. 
The three, the Triad, or world arising from their union. 
The. four, the Quarternary, or the liberal sciences. 
On this figure, the oath was propounded to the aspirant in the 
esoteric school of Pythagoras. Jamblichus gives this oath in his 
life of Pythagoras : 

Ov pa apsrepr] yzvzr\, -napahovra rerpaKTVV 
Tlayav assuao-j ipmeus, pi^wpa rexovaav. 

By that pure quadrilit'ral name on high, 
Nature's eternal fountain and supply, 
The parent of all souls that living be, — 
By it, with faithful oath, I swear to thee. 

The tetractys was undoubtedly borrowed by Pythagoras from 
the tetragrammaton of the Jews,* when he visited Babylon, and 
was instructed by Ezekiel in the Jewish mysteries. 

TETRAGRAMMATON. (Greek.) The word of four let- 
ters. The incommunicable name of God in Hebrew, mn*> 
which, as consisting of four letters, was thus called. See 
Jehovah, 



* Cudworth (Intellectual system, p. 376) thinks there is no doubt of this, ar.d 
the most learned writers have generally agreed with him in the opinion. 



488 THE— THK 

T.\ G •. A.-. 0.-. T.\ U.\ The Grand Architect of the Unl 
verse. A very common abbreviation of the name of God, used 
by masonic writers. 

THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES. These are Faith, Hope, and 
Charity, which, as forming the principal rounds of the masonic 
ladder, constitute a part of the instruction of the Entered Ap 
prentice. Of these, Faith may be explained to be the first round, 
because faith in God is the first requisite qualification of a can- 
didate for masonry ; Hope is the second, because hope in immor- 
tality, is a necessary consequence of faith in a divine being ; and 
Charity is the third, because the mind that is elevated by such a 
faith, and the heart that is warmed by such a hope, cannot fail 
to be stimulated by that universal love of the human race, which 
is but another name for Charity. 

Again. Charity is the highest round, because Charity is the 
greatest of these virtues. Our faith may be lost in sight; " faith 
is the evidence of things not seen j" he that believes only on the 
evidence of his senses, believes from demonstration, and not from 
faith, and faith in him is dead. Hope ends in fruition j we hope 
only for that which we desire, but do not possess; and the attain- 
ment of the object is the termination of our hope. But Charity 
extends beyond the grave, through the boundless realms of eter- 
nity; for there, even there, the mercy of God, the richest of all 
charities, throws a veil over our transgressions, and extends to 
the repentant sinner the boon of that forgiveness which divine 
justice must have denied. 

THIRTY-THIRD DEGREE. See Supreme Council. 

THREE. One of the sacred numbers of Freemasonry. 
Three was considered among all the Pagan nations as the chief 
of the mystical numbers, because, as Aristotle remarks, it con- 
tains within itself a beginning, a middle, and an end. Hence 
we find it designating some of the attributes of almost all the 



THR 4S9 

cods. The thunder bolt of Jove was three-forked; the sceptre 
of Neptune was a trident; Cerberus, the dog of Pluto, was three- 
headed ; there were three Fates and three Furies ; the sun had 
three names, Apollo, So", and Liber; and the moon three also, 
Diana, Luna, and Hecate. In all incantations, three was a 
favourite number, and hence, the poet says, numero Deus imparl 
yaudet. A triple cord was used, each cord of three different 
colours, white, red, and black, and a small image of the subject 
of the charm was carried thrice around the altar, as we see in 
Virgil's eighth ecolosme : 

" Terna tibi hsecprimum triplici diversa colore 
Licia circumclo, terque hsec altaria circuru 
Effigiem duco." 

The Druids paid no less respect to this sacred number. 
Throughout their whole system, a reference is constantly made 
to its influence; and so far did their veneration for it extend, that 
even their sacred poetry was composed in triads. 

In all the mysteries, from Egypt to Scandinavia, we find a 
sacred regard for the number three. In the rites of Mithras, the 
Empyrean was said to be supported by three intelligences, Or- 
nmzd, Mithra, and Mithras. In the rites of Hindostan, there 
was the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. It was, in short, 
a general character of the mysteries to have three principal offi- 
cers and three grades of initiation. 

In Freemasonry, the number three is the most important and 
universal in its application of all the mystic numbers. Thus we 
find it pervading the whole ritual. There are three degrees of 
Ancient Craft Masonry — three principal officers of a lodge — 
three supports — three ornaments — three greater and three 
lesser lights — three movable and three immovable jewels — 
three principal tenets — three rounds of Jacob's ladder — three 
working tools of a Fellow-Craft — three principal orders of architec- 
ture — three important human senses — three ancient Grand Mas- 
ters — three recreant F.\ C.'. ; — and indeed so many instances ol 



490 THR— TIL 

the consecration of the number that it would exceed the limits 
of this volume to record them. 

THREE GLOBES, RITE OF THE GRAND LODGE OF 

The lodge of " Three Globes" was established at Berlin in 17-MJ, 
and in 1765 was constituted as a Grand Lodge. It, for a long 
time, practised only the three primitive degrees of Ancient Craft 
Masonry; but afterwards adopted seven others, borrowed from 
France. The three ancient degrees are under the control of 
the Grand Lodge, but the seven higher ones are governed by an 
Internal Supreme Orient, whose members are, however, elected 
by the Grand Lodge. The rite of the Grand Lodge of the 
Three Globes is practised by one hundred and seventy-seven 
lodges in Germany. 

THREE STEPS. The three steps on the Master's carpet are 
emblematic of the three stages of human life — -youth, manhood, 
and old*age ? and allude to the three degrees which are respec- 
tively representations of these three stages. 

THRESHING-FLOOR. The threshing-floor of Araunah, or 
Oman the Jebusite, was on Mount Moriah. It was purchased 
by David for a place of sacrifice, for six hundred shekels of gold, 
and on it the temple was afterwards built. See Oman the Jebu- 
site. 

THUMMIN. See TJrim and Thummim. 

TILER. An oflicer in a symbolic lodge, whose duty it is to 
guard the lodge against the intrusion of the profane. As in 
operative masonry, the tiler, when the edifice is erected, finishes 
and covers it with the roof, so in speculative Masonry, when the 
lodge is duly organized, the Tiler closes the door and covers the 
sacred precincts from all intrusion. The Tiler is not necessarily 
a member of the lodge, but should always be a worthy Mason 



TIT— TRA 491 

and skilful in the craft He generally receives a moderate com- 
pensation for his services. 

TITO. Tito Prince Haroclim was one of the especial favourites 
of King Solomon. He presided over the lodge of Intendants 
of the Building, and was one of the twelve Illustrious Knights 
who were set "over the twelve tribes, that of Napthali being 
placed under his care. 

TOKEN. This word, in Hebrew, mN, oth, is frequently 
used in Scripture to signify a sign or memorial of something 
past, some covenant made or promise given. Thus Grod says to 
Noah, of the rainbow " it shall be for a token of a covenant be- 
tween me and the earth *" and to Abraham, he says of circum- 
cision, " it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you." 
In masonry, the grip of recognition is called a token, because it 
is an outward sign of the covenant of friendship and fellowship 
entered into between the members of the fraternity, and is to be 
considered as a memorial of that covenant which was made, 
when it was first received by the candidate, between him and the 
order into which he was then initiated. 

TRACING-BOARD. A painting representing the emblems 
peculiar to a degree, arranged for the convenience of the lec- 
turer. Each degree of symbolic masonry has its tracing-board, 
which are distinguished as tracing-boards the first, second, and 
third. It is, therefore, the same as the flooring or carpet. 

TRADITIONS. The legends or traditions of Freemasonry 

constitute a very considerable and important part of its ritual. 

In many instances these traditions have been corrupted by 

anachronisms and other errors, which have naturally crept into 

them during; a Ions; series of oral transmission. No one, there- 
CD o 

fore, can for a moment contend that all the legends and tradi- 
tions of the order are, to the very letter, historical facts. Ail 



492 . TRA 

that can be claimed fur them is, that in some there is a great 
deal of truthful narrative, more or less overlaid with fiction; in 
others, simply a mere substratum of history; and in others, no- 
thing more than an idea, to which the legend or myth is indebted 
for its existence, and of which it is, as a symbol, the exponent. 
The intelligent Mason will always, however, be able, after a 
little consideration, to separate the substratum of truth from the 
superstructure of fiction which has been imposed upon it. And 
then, what is presented as a tradition will often be found to be a 
mere myth or allegory, whose symbolic teaching is of great 
beauty and importance. It is a part of the science of Freema- 
sonry to elaborate out of these traditions the truth, s} 7 mbolic or 
historical, which they are intended to convey, and to distinguish 
a tradition founded in fact from one which is based upon a myth, 
so as to assign to the annals and the poetry of the order their 
respective portions. 

TRANSIENT BRETHREN. Transient brethren, when they 
visit a lodge, are to be cordially welcomed and properly clothed. 
But on no occasion are they admitted until, after the proper pre- 
cautions, they have proved themselves to be " true and trusty." 
See Visit, Right of. 

TRANSIENT CANDIDATE. A transient candidate is one 
not living in the place where he applies for admission. If well 
recommended by two or more members of the lodge, a ballot 
may take place on the same night that he applies ; whereas, in 
the case of a permanent resident, the letter must be referred to a 
committee, and lie over for at least a month. 

TRAVELLING FREEMASONS. There is no portion of 
our annals so worthy of investigation as that which is embraced 
by the middle ages of Christendom, when the whole of Europe 
was perambulated by our brethren in associations of travelling 
artisans, under the name of " Free and Accepted Masons," for 



TRA 493 

the purpose of erecting religious edifices. There is not a coun- 
try of Europe which does not at this day contain honourable 
evidences of the skill and industry of our masonic ancestors. I 
therefore propose, in the present article, to give a brief sketch 
of the origin, the progress and the character of these travelling 
architects. 

Clavel, in his " Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maconnerie," 
has traced the organization of these associations to the " collegia 
artificum," or colleges of artisans,* which were instituted at 
Rome by Numa, in the year B. C. 714, and whose members were 
originally Greeks, imported by this lawgiver for the purpose of 
embellishing the city over which he reigned. 

These associations existed in Rome in the time of the empe- 
rors. They were endowed with certain privileges peculiar to 
themselves, such as a government by their own statutes, the 
power of making contracts as a corporation, and an immunity 
from taxation. Their meetings were held in private, like the 
esoteric schools of the philosophers. Their presiding officers 
were called " magistri." They were divided into three classes, 
corresponding with the three degrees of Freemasonry, and they 
admitted into their ranks, as honorary members, persons who 
were not, by profession, operative masons. Finally, they used a 
symbolic language drawn from the implements of masonry, and 
they were in possession of a secret mode of recognition. 

In time, the " collegia artificum" became the repository of all 
the rites which were brought to Rome from foreign countries, 
and thus we may suppose the Hebrew mysteries, or Temple Ma- 
sonry, to have been introduced into that country. This supposi 
tion may derive some support from the factj that in the time of 
Julius Csesar the Jews were first permitted to open their syna- 
gogues and worship the God of their fathers, without restraint, 
at Rome, — a toleration for which they were probably indebted tc 
their fraternization with the members of the colleges of artificers ; 



* See Roman Colleges, in this work. 
4> 



494 TRA 

and in the reign of Augustus, many of the Roman knights em- 
braced Judaism, and publicly observed the Sabbath. 

These " sodalitates," or fraternities, began upon the invasion 
of the barbarians to decline in numbers, in respectability, and 
in power. But on the conversion of the whole empire, they or 
others of a similar character began again to flourish. The priests 
of the Christian church became their patrons, and under their 
guidance they devoted themselves to the building of churches 
and monasteries. In the tenth century, they were established as 
a free guild or corporation in Lombardy. The most celebrated 
of these corporations in Italy was that of Como, and the name 
of " Magistri Comacini," or Masters of Como, became at length, 
says Muratori, the generic name for all these associations of 
architects. 

From Lombardy, which they soon filled with religious edifices, 
they passed beyond the Alps, into all the countries where Chris- 
tianity, but recently established, required the erection of churches. 
The popes encouraged their designs, and more than one bull 
was despatched, conferring on them privileges of the most exten- 
sive character. A monopoly was granted to them for the erec- 
tion of all religious edifices ; they were declared independent of 
the sovereigns in whose dominions they might be temporarily re- 
siding, and subject only to their own private laws; they were 
permitted to regulate the amount of their wages ; were exempted 
from all kinds of taxation; and no Mason, not belonging to their 
association, was permitted to compete with or oppose them in the 
pursuit of employment. And in one of the papal decrees on 
the subject of these artisans, the supreme pontiff declares that 
these regulations have been made " after the example of Hiram, 
King of Tyre, when he sent artisans to King Solomon for the 
purpose of building the Temple of Jerusalem." 

After filling the continent with cathedrals, parochial churches, 
and monasteries, and increasing their own numbers by accessions 
of new members from all the countries in which they had been 
labouring, they passed over into England, and there introduced 



TRA 495 

their peculiar style of building. Thence they travelled to Scot- 
land, and there have rendered their existence ever memorable by 
establishing, in the parish of Kilwinning, where they were erect- 
ing an abbey, the germ of Scottish Freemasonry, which has regu- 
larly descended through the Grand Lodge of Scotland to the 
present day. 

The government of these fraternities, wherever they might be 
tor the time located, was very regular and uniform. When 
about to commence the erection of a religious edifice, they first 
built huts, or, as they were termed, lodges in the vicinity, in 
which they resided for the sake of economy as well as conveni- 
ence. It is from these that the present name of our places of 
meeting is derived. Over every ten men was placed a warden, 
who paid them wages, and took care that there should be no 
needless expenditure of materials, and no careless loss of imple- 
ments. Over the whole, a surveyor or master, called in their 
old documents, " magister," presided, and directed the general 
labour. 

The Abbe Grandidier, in a letter at the end of the Marquis 
Luchet's " Essai sur les Illumines/' has quoted from the ancient 
register of the Masons at Strasburg, the regulations of the asso 
ciation which built the splendid cathedral of that city. I have 
not been successful in my efforts to obtain a sight of the original 
work, but the elaborate treatise of Clavel furnishes us with the 
most prominent details of all that Grandidier has preserved. 
The Cathedral of Strasburg was commenced in the year 1277, 
under the direction of Hervin de Steinbach. The Masons who, 
under his directions, were engaged in the construction of this 
noblest specimen of the Gothic style of architecture, were divided 
into the separate ranks of Masters, Craftsmen, and Apprentices 
The place where they assembled was called a " hutte," a German 
word equivalent to our English term, lodge. They employed 
the implements of masonry as emblems, and wore them as insig- 
nia. They had certain signs and words of recognition, and re- 
ceived their new members with peculiar and secret ceremonies, 



496 TRA 

admitting into their ranks many eminent persons who were not 
operative Masons by profession.* 

The fraternity of Strasburg became celebrated throughout 
Germany; their superiority was acknowledged by the kindred 
associations, and they in time received the appellation of the 
" haupt hutte," or Grand Lodge, and exercised supremacy over 
the hutten of Suabia, Hesse, Bavaria, Franconia, Saxony, Thu- 
ringia, and the countries bordering on the river Moselle. The 
Masters of these several lodges assembled at Ratisbon in 1459, 

* The correspondent of the Boston Atlas gave, in 1847, the following details 
of the Cathedral at Cologne, another labour of the Travelling Freemasons of 
the Middle Ages : 

"There stood the huge mass, a proud monument to Gerhard, Master of the 
Cologne Lodge of Freemasons, and resisting, as it does, the attacks of nature 
and the labour of man, a symbol of that mystic brotherhood which, to use the 
words of Lafayette, ' owes a double lustre to those who have cherished, and to 
those who have persecuted it.' 
* * * * * * * * 

"During the interval between 124S and 1323, there were not only fifty 
Masters, and three times as many Fellow- Craft, daily employed, but a large 
number of Entered Apprentices, from all parts of Christendom, Avho had come 
to study both the operative and speculative branches of the art, and carried 
home with them the principles which directed the erection of almost every 
Gothic monument of the age ; others, which prepared the way for the light of 

the Reformation : 

'They dreamt not of a perishable home, 
Who could thus build.' 

"After the secession of the Freemasons from the church, the works were sus- 
pended, leaving only the choir, with its side aisles, completed. Saxatilo creep- 
ers covered the other foundations, and after remaining untouched, except by 
the iron hand o f Time, for nearly five centuries > it could but remind one of a 
'broken promise to God.' In 1829, the attention of the King of Prussia was 
directed to it, and the work' recommenced with such skill, that an association 
was formed in 1842 for the purpose of continuing it vigorously. * * * * 
The original plans, which were taken from the lodge by the French in 1794, 
have been recovered, and are strictly adhered to by the architect, M. Zmerner, 
who has even adopted the ancient and accepted division of the workmen. 
The first class receives 57 cents per diem, the second, 48 cents, and the third, 
41 cents, those in the two latter receiving promotion when their industry and 
ability merit it." 



TEA -497 

and on the 25th of April contracted an act of union, declaring 
the chief of the Strasburg Cathedral the only and perpetual 
Grand Master of the General Fraternity of Freemasons of 
Germany. 

Similar institutions existed in France and in Switzerland. In 
the latter country the Grand Lodge was established criginally at 
Berne, about the middle of the fifteenth century, during the 
construction of the cathedral at that place, but in 1502 it was 
transferred to Zurich. 

The details of the proceedings of the travelling Freemasons 
in England are more familiar, as well as more interesting, to us. 
They entered that kingdom at an early period. We have already 
seen that their organization in Italy, as a free guild, took place 
early in the tenth century ; and we know, from undoubted docu- 
ments, that Prince Edwin assembled the English Masons at 
York in 926, when the first English Grand Lodge was consti- 
tuted. It is from this general assembly of our ancestors at 
York, that all the existing constitutions of our English and 
American lodges derive their authority. From that period the 
fraternity, with various intermissions, continued to pursue their 
labours, and constructed many edifices which still remain as 
monuments of their skill as workmen, and their taste as archi- 
tects. Kings, in many instances, became their patrons, and 
their labours were superintended by powerful noblemen and emi- 
nent prelates, who, for this purpose, were admitted as members 
of the fraternity. Many of the old charges, for the better 
government of their lodges, have been preserved, and are still to 
be found in our books of Constitutions, every line of which indi- 
cates that they were originally drawn up for associations strictly 
and exclusively operative in their character. 

In glancing over the history of this singular oody of archi- 
tect^, we are struck with several important peculiarities. 

In the first place, they were strictly ecclesiastical in their con. 
stitution. The Pope, the supreme Pontiff of the Church, was 
their patron and protector. They were supported and encouraged 

42* 



498 TRA 

by bishops and abbots, and hence their chief employment appear." 
to have been in the construction of religious edifices. Like their 
ancestors, who were engaged in the erection of the magnificent 
Temple of Jerusalem, they devoted themselves to labour for the 
" House of the Lord." Masonry was then, as it had been be 
fore, and has ever been since, intimately connected with religion. 

They were originally all operatives. But the artisans of that 
period were not educated men, and they were compelled to seek 
among the clergy, the only men of learning, for those whose 
wisdom might contrive, and whose cultivated taste might adorn, 
the plans which they by their practical skill were to carry into 
effect. Hence the germ of that speculative masonry, which once 
dividing the character of the fraternity with the operative, now 
completely occupies it, to the entire exclusion of the latter. 

But, lastly, from the circumstance of their union and concert, 
arose a uniformity of design in all the public buildings of that 
period — a uniformity so remarkable as to find its explanation 
only in the fact, that their construction was committed through- 
out the whole of Europe, if not always to the same individuals, 
at least to members of the same association. The remarks of 
Mr. Hope on this subject, in his "History of Architecture," (p. 
239,) are well worthy of perusal. " The architects of all the 
sacred edifices of the Latin church, wherever such arose, — north, 
south, east, or west, — thus derived their science from the same 
central school ; obeyed in their designs the same hierarchy ; were 
directed in their constructions by the same principles of propriety 
and taste ; kept up with each other, in the most distant parts to 
which they might be sent, the most constant correspondence ; 
and rendered every minute improvement, the property of the 
whole body and a new conquest of the art. The result of this 
unanimity was, that at each successive period of the monastic 
dynasty, on whatever point a new church or new monastery 
might be erected, it resembled all those raised at the same period 
in every other place, however distant from it, as if both had been 
built in the same place by the same artist. For instance, we 



TRA 499 

tincl, at particular epochs, churches as far distant from each other 
as the north of Scotland and the south of Italy, to be minutely 
similar in all the essential characteristics." 

In conclusion, we may remark, with some pride as their de- 
scendants, that the world is indebted to this association for the 
introduction of the Gothic, or, as it has lately been denominated, 
the pointed style of architecture. This style — so different from 
the Greek or Roman orders — whose pointed arches and minute 
tracery distinguish the solemn temples of the olden time, and 
whose ruins arrest the attention and claim the admiration of the 
spectator, has been universally acknowledged to be the invention 
of the travelling Freemasons of the Middle Ages. 

TRAVELLING WARRANTS. These are Warrants of Con- 
stitution granted to lodges, empowering the members to remove 
their lodge at pleasure, and to open it and transact lodge busi- 
ness in any part of the world in which they may be stationed. 
Such Warrants are granted generally to lodges in the army. In 
1779, the Massachusetts Grand Lodge granted a warrant to Gen. 
Patterson and others, to hold a travelling lodge in the American 
army, to be called " Washington Lodge." In 1756, R. W. 
Richard Gridley was authorized " to congregate all Free and iVc- 
cepted Masons, in the expedition against Crown Point, and form 
them into one or more lodges." In 1738, St. John's Grand 
Lodge, at Boston, granted a travelling warrant to a lodge to be 
holden in His Majesty's 28th regiment, then stationed at Louis- 
burg.* Lodges of this character are still very common in the 
British army.j- 

In the London Review, 1834, two interesting anecdotes are 
recorded of lodge No. 227, attached to the 46th regiment of the 



* Moore's Magazine, vol. i, p. 15. 

f During the late war between the United States and Mexico, travelling 
warrants were granted to some of the regiments of volunteers in the American 
army. 



500 TRE— TRT 

British army, and working under a travelling warrant from tn« 
Grand Lodge of Ireland. During the Revolution, "the masonic 
chest of the 46th, by the chance of war, fell into the hands of 
the Americans : the captors reported the circumstance to Gen. 
Washington, who embraced the opportunity of testifying his ad- 
miration of masonry in the most marked and gratifying manner, 
by directing that a guard of honour, under the command of a 
distinguished officer, should take charge of the chest, with many 
articles of value belonging to the 46th, and returned them to the 
regiment. In 1805, the chest was captured again in Dominica, 
by the French, who carried it on board their fleet without kuow- 
ing its contents. Three years .afterward, the chest, at the re- 
quest of the officers who had commanded the expedition, was 
returned by the French government with several complimentary 
presents." 

TREASURER. The fourth officer of a symbolic lodge, whose 
duty it is to receive all money from the hands of the Secretary, 
or otherwise, and pay it out again by the order of the Worship- 
ful Master, and with the consent of the lodge. He is a respon- 
sible officer, and is generally required to give security for the 
faithful performance of his duties. 

TRESTLE-BOARD. A trestle-board, from the French tre* 
teau, is a board placed on a wooden frame of three legs. Ma- 
sonically, it means the board on which the master workman lays 
his designs to direct the craft in their labours. In speculative 
Freemasonry, it is symbolical of the books of nature and revela- 
tion, in which the Supreme Architect of the Universe has de- 
veloped his will, for the guidance and direction of his creatures, 
in the great labour of their lives, the erection of a temple of 
holiness in the heart. 

TRIANGLE, DOUBLE. The double triangle is described 

by some writers as identical with the pentalpha of Pythagoras, 




TRI 501 

or pentangle of Solomon. This, however, is not the case. The 
pentalpha has five lines and five angles, and 
the double triangle has six lines and six 
angles. The former, was among the Pytha- 
goreans, an emblem of health, and among 
Masons it is the outline or origin of the five- 
pointed star, the emblem of fellowship ; the 
latter is the Seal of Solomon, or Shield of David. In Christian 
churches it is a symbol of the twofold nature of Christ. 

TRIANGLE, EQUILATERAL. This, as the most perfect 
of figures, was adopted by all the ancient nations as a symbol of 
the Deity. It still retains that allusion as an emblem of Free- 
masonry. Among the Hebrews, a jod in the centre of an equi- 
lateral triangle, was one of the emblems of Jehovah. In the 
system of Pythagoras, the obligation was administered to the 
candidate on the Tetractys, which was expressed by ten jods 
arrayed in the form of a triangle, which, with them, was the 
symbol of Deity, as embracing in himself the three stages of 
time, past, present, and future; he was, he is, and he shall be. 
Among the Hebrews, a jod in the centre of a triangle was one 
of the modes of expressing the incommunicable name of Jeho- 
vah, and was supposed, by some authors, to refer to the triune 
God. This allusion to Deity it still preserves in the masonic 
ritual. 

TRIANGLE, TRIPLE. This is another of the numerous 
forms in which the triangle is arranged, and 
like all the others, it is used as a symbol of 
Deity, though perhaps it is here made to 
assume a still more sacred character from its 
triple form. As such, it has been adopted as 
the most appropriate jewel of the Illustrious 
Prelate in a Commandery of Knights Templars. 




502 TRI 

TRIPLE TAIL The Tau Cross, or Cross of St Anthony, is 
a cross in the form of a Greek T. The triple tau is a figure 
formed by three of these crosses meeting in a point, and there- 
fore resembling a letter T resting on the traverse beam of an EL 
This emblem is not adopted in American Freemasonry, but placed 
in the centre of a triangle and circle — both emblems of the 
Deity; it constitutes the jewel of the Royal Arch as practised 
in England, where it is so highly esteemed as to be called the 
" emblem of all emblems/ 7 and "the grand emblem of Royal 
Arch Masonry." The original signification of this emblem has 
been variously explained. Some suppose it to include the initials 
of the Temple of Jerusalem, T. H., Tcmplum Hierosoli/mse ; 
others, that is a symbol of the mystical union of the Father and 
Son, H signifying Jehovah, and T, or the cross, the Son. A 
writer in Moore's Magazine ingeniously supposes it to be a repre- 
sentation of three T squares, and that it alludes to the three 
jewels of the three ancient Grand Masters. It has also been 
said that it is the monogram of Hiram of Tyre, and others assert 
that it is only a modification of the Hebrew letter shin, ty, which 
was one of the Jewish abbreviations of the sacred name. Oliver 
thinks, from its connection with the circle and triangle in the 
Royal Arch jewel, that it was intended to typify the sacred name 
as the author of eternal life. The English Royal Arch lectures 
say that "by its intersection it forms a given number of angles 
that may be taken in five several combinations; and, reduced, their 
amount in right angles will be found equal to the five Platonic 
bodies which represent the four elements and the sphere of the 
Universe." Amid so many speculations, I need not hesitate to 
offer one of my own. I have already stated under the article 
Tau Cross, that the Prophet Ezekiel speaks of the tau or tau 
cross as the mark distinguishing those who were to be saved, on 
account of their sorrow for their sins, from those who, as idolaters, 
were to be slain. It was a mark or sign of favourable distinc- 
tion, and with this allusion we may, therefore, suppose the triple 
tau to be used in the Royal Arch degree as a mark designating 



TRO 503 

and separating those who know and worship the true name of 
God, from those who are ignorant of that august mystery. 

TROWEL. An implement of operative masonry, which has 
been adapted by speculative Masons as the peculiar working tool 
of the Master's degree. By this implement, and its use in ope- 
rative masonry to spread the cement which binds all the parts of 
the building into one common mass, we are taught to spread the 
cement of affection and kindness, which unites all the members 
of the masonic family, wheresoever dispersed over the globe, into 
one companionship of Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. 

This implement is also very appropriately devoted to the Mas- 
ter's degree, because, as Master Masons only, do we constitute 
the recognised members of the great brotherhood of masonry. 
The Entered Apprentice and Fellow-Craft are not considered as 
members of the masonic family. 

Again is this implement considered the appropriate working- 
tool of a Master Mason, because, in operative masonry, while the 
Apprentice is engaged in preparing the rude materials, which 
require only the guage and gavel to give them their proper shape, 
the Fellow-Craft places them in their proper position by means 
of the plumb, level, and square ; but the Master Mason alone, 
having examined their correctness, and proved them true and 
trusty, secures them permanently in their place by spreading, 
with the trowel, the cement that irrevocably binds them together. 

The trowel has also been adopted as the jewel of the Select 
Master. But its uses in this degree are not symbolical. They 
are simply connected with the historical legend of the degree. 

TROWEL AND SWORD. In the degree of Knights of 
the East we are told that at the building of the second temple, 
Zerubbabel ordered the workmen to carry a sword in one hand 
and a trowel in the other, so that while they worked with one 
hand they might be enabled to defend themselves with the nth t 
from the attacks of their envious neighbors, the Samaritans. To 



504 TRO— TUB 

commemorate the valour of these worthy craftsmen, the sword and 
trowel en saltire have been place upon the English Royal Arch 
Tracing-board. In the American ritual this expressive symbol 
of valour and piety has been omitted. 

TROWEL, COMPANY OF THE. A society composed of 
learned and eminent persons, instituted at Florence in 1512. 
Its emblems were the trowel, the gavel and the square, and its 
patron was St. Andrew. Clavel thinks the institution was deri- 
ved from the society of Travelling Freemasons, and was organ- 
ized by persons of quality, who had been admitted as honorary 
members of that operative association. 

TRUE MASONS, ORDER OF THE. A branch of the 
Hermetic rite of Pernetti, under the name of the order of True 
Masons, was established at Montpelier, in 1778, by Boileau, 
who subsequently introduced the Philosophic Scotch rite. It 
consisted of six degrees. 1, the True Mason; 2, the True Ma- 
son in the right way ; 3, Knight of the Golden Key ; 4, Knight 
of the Rainbow; 5, Knight of the Argonauts; 6, Knight of 
Golden Fleece. 

TRUTH. Truth is one of the three principal tenets of our 
order, Brotherly Love and Relief being the other two. To be 
" true and trusty" is one of the first lessons in which the aspirant 
is instructed. All other things are mortal and transitory, but 
truth alone is immutable and eternal ; it is the attribute of Him 
in whom there is no variableness nor shadow of changing. 

TUBAL CAIN. The son of Lamech; the first who wrought 
in iron and brass He was the inventor of edge-tools, and in- 
troduced many arts into society which tended towards its improve- 
ment and civilization. Tubal Cain is the Yulcan of the pagans, 
and is thought to have been closely connected with Ancient Free- 
masonry. Fabei says that " all the most remarkable ancient 



TUS— TWE 505 

buildings of Greece, Egypt and Asia Minor, were ascribed tc 
Cabirean or Cyclopean Masons/' the descendants of Vulcan, Dhu 
Balcan, the god Balcan, or Tubal Cain. Oliver says "in after 
times Tubal Cain, under the name of Vulcan and his Cyclops, 
figured as workers in metals and inventors of the mysteries ; and 
hence it is probable that he was the hierophant of a similar institu- 
tion in his day, copied from the previous system of Seth, and ap- 
plied to the improvement of schemes more adapted to thejphysical 
pursuits of the race to which he belonged."* For these reasons 
Tubal Cain has been consecrated, among masons of the pre- 
sent day, as an ancient brother. His introduction ■ of the arts 
of civilization having given the first value to property, Tubal 
Cain has been considered among masons as a symbol of worldly 
dons. 



TUSCAN ORDER. One of the five orders of architecture, 
and of comparatively modern date, having been invented by the 
Italians. It so much resembles the Doric, that it has been con- 
sidered by most writers as merely a variety of that order. Its 
want of antiquity causes it to be held in but little esteem among 
Freemasons. 

TWELVE ILLUSTRIOUS KNIGHTS. See Sublime 

Knight Elected. 

TWELVE GRAND POINTS OF MASONRY. The old 

English lectures contain the following passage : " There are in 
Freemasonry twelve original points, which form the basis of the 
system, and comprehend the whole ceremony of initiation. With- 
out the existence of these points, no man ever was or can be legally 
and essentially received into the order. Every person who is 
made a mason must go through all these twelve forms and cere- 
monies, not only in the first degree, but in every subsequent one." 



Oliver, Landmarks, ii. p\ 213. 
43 



506 TWE 

Important as our ancient brethren deemed the explanation of 
these points, the Grand Lodge of England thought proper, in 1813, 
to strike them from its ritual, and as they never were introduced 
into this country, a synopsis of them may not be uninteresting or 
unacceptable. 

These twelve points refer the twelve parts of the ceremony of 
initiation to the twelve tribes of Israel, in the following manner : 

1. To Reuben was referred the opening of the lodge, because 
he was the first-born of his father. 

2. To Simeon was referred the preparation of the candidate, 
because he prepared the instruments of destruction for the slaughter 
of the Shechemites. 

3. To Levi was referred the report, because he gave a sig- 
nal or report to his brothers when they assailed the men of 
Shechen. 

4. To Judah was referred the entrance, of the candidate, be- 
cause this tribe first entered the promised land. 

5. To Zebulun was referred the prayer, because the prayer and 
blessing of his father was conferred on him in preference to his 
brother, Issachar. 

6. To Issachar was referred the circumambulation, because, as 
an indolent and thriftless tribe, they required a leader to advance 
them to an equal elevation with the other tribes. 

7. To Dan was referred the ceremony of advancing to the 
altar, as a contrast with the rapid advance of that tribe to 
idolatry. 

8. To Gad was referred the obligation, because of the vow of 
Jephtha, a member of that tribe. 

9. To Asher was referred the time when the candidate was 
intrusted, because Asher, by the fertile soil of its district, was 
represented by fatness and royal dainties, which were compared 
to the riches of masonic wisdom which the candidate then re- 
ceived. 

10. To Naphthali was referred the investment, when the can- 
didate, having received his apron, was declared free, because the 



TWE --TYR 507 

tribe of Naphthali had a peculiar freedom attached to them in 
conformity with the blessing pronounced by Moses. 

11. To Joseph was referred the north-east corner, because, as 
this reminds us of the most superficial part of masonry, so the 
two half tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, of which the tribe of 
Joseph was composed, were accounted more superficial than the 
rest, inasmuch us they were only the grandsons of the patriarch 
Jacob. 

12. To Benjamin was referred the closing of the lodge, because 
he was the last son of Jacob. 

These points, as I have already observed, are now obsolete, 
but they afford instruction, and will be found worthy of at- 
tention. 

TWENTY-FOUR INCH GUAGE. An instrument made 
use of in operative masonry, for the purpose of measuring and 
laying out work, and which, in speculative masonry, constitutes 
one of the working tools of the Entered Apprentice. The 
twenty-four inches which are marked upon its surface, are em- 
blematical of the twenty-four hours of the day, which, being di- 
vided into three parts, instruct the mason to give eight hours to 
labour, eight hours to the service of God and a worthy, distressed 
brother, and eight to refreshment and sleep. William of Malms 
bury tells us, that this method of dividing the day is the same 
that was adopted by King Alfred. Why the twenty-four inch 
guage has been adopted as the working tool of an Entered Ap- 
prentice, may be seen by a reference to the word Implements. 

TYLER. An obsolete spelling. See Tiler. 

TYRE. A city of Phenicia, on the coast of the Mediterranean 
gea, ninty-three miles north of Jerusalem. It is distinguished in 
masonic history for the part taken by Hiram, its king, in supply- 
ing workmen and materials for the building of the Temple. Thi? 
magnificent place, once the richest a*nd most powerful of the cities* 



508 UNA— UNI 

of the coast, has long since been demolished, and on a part of 
its ruins the insignificant village of Sur has been founded by the 
Metoualies. 



U. 

UNANIMITY. Unanimity in the choice of candidates is con- 
sidered so essential to the welfare of the fraternity, that the old 
regulations of the Grand Lodge of England, have expressly pro- 
vided for its preservation in the following words : 

"But no man can be entered a brother in any particular lodge, 
or admitted a member thereof, without the unanimous consent of 
all the members of the lodge then present, when the candidate 
is proposed, and when their consent is formally asked by the Mas- 
ter. They are to give their consent it their own prudent way, 
either virtually or in form, but with unanimity. Nor is this in- 
herent privilege subject to a dispensation ; because the member 
of a particular lodge are the best judges of it ; and because, if a 
turbulent member should be imposed upon them, it might spoil 
their harmony, or hinder the freedom of their communication, or 
even break and disperse the lodges, which ought to be avoided by 
all true and faithful."* See Ballot. 

UNFAVOURABLE REPORT. The unfavourable report of 
a committee on the application of a candidate is equivalent to a 
rejection, and precludes the necessity of a ballot. For the reason, 
see Election. 

UNIVERSI TERRARUM ORBIS ARCHITECTONIC 
PER GLORIAM INGENTIS. By the Glory of the Grand 

* Revised Regulations, anno 1767. 



UPR— URI 509 

Architect of the Un iver,se. — This is the caption to all balustres or 
documents emanating from a Sovereign Inspector or Supreme 
Council of the 33d degree of the Ancient Scotch, rite. 

UPRIGHT POSTURE. To man alone, of all the inhabi- 
tants of the earth, has his Creator given an upright and erect 
posture, to elevate his mind by the continual sight of the heavenly 
host, and by the noble thoughts that his natural attitude inspires, 
to draw him from the grovelling cares of earth, to a contempla- 
tion of the divine sources from whence he sprang. In the hu- 
man race this erect stature is the foundation of their dominion 
and superiority over all the rest of the animal world.* 

" Thus while the mute creation downward bend 
Their sight, and to their earthly mother tend, 
Man looks aloft, and with eternal eyes 
Beholds his own hereditary skies. "f 

The man who has planted his feet upon the immutable square 
of morality, and whose body is erect in the proud consciousness 
of virtue, is, indeed, worthy of the dominion which has been 
given him over the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air. 
And the mason, remembering that " God hath made man up- 
right," J should constantly endeavour to preserve that upright 
posture of his body and his mind. 

URIM AND THUMMIM. Two Hebrew words, DH1N and 
0*On> Aurim and Thummim, signifying, as they have been 
translated in the Sepfcuagint, " Light and Truth. "§ They were 
sacred lots worn in the breast-plate of the High Priest, and to be 
consulted by him alone for the purpose of obtaining a revelation 

* Turner, Sac. His. World. I. lett. 21, p. 420. 
f Pronaque cum spectent animalia caetera terram 

Os homini sublime dedit : coelumque tueri 

Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus. 

Ovid. Met. B. i. 84. 

J Ecclesiastes, vii. 29. $ 6fi\cxriT <ot dXyjOeta. 

4.3* 



510 URN 

of the will of God in matters of great moment. What they 
were, authors on Jewish antiquities have not been able to agree. 
Some suppose, that the augury consisted in a more splendid ap- 
pearance of certain letters of the names of the tribes inscribed 
upon the stones of the breast-plate ; others, that it was received 
by voice from two small images which were placed beyond the folds 
of the breast-plate. A variety of other conjectures have been 
hazarded, but as Godwyn observes, "he spoke best, who ingeni- 
ously confessed that he knew not whatUrim and Thummim was."* 

But the researches of Egyptian Archaeologists have thrown 
much light upon this intricate subject, and relieved it of many 
of its difficulties. It is now known that the Egyptian judges 
wore breast-plates having inscribed on them two figures, the one 
of the Sun Ra, in a double sense, that of physical and intellec- 
tual light, and the other, that of the goddess Thme in her two- 
fold capacity of truth and justice. 

Now in Hebrew the double capacity of any thing is expressed 
by the plural form of the noun. But the Egyptian Ra, the sun 
or light, is in Hebrew Aur and Thine, truth is Thme. Aur, in 
the plural, is Aurim. Thme, in the plural, is Thmim Now it 
seems to me, and I have the high authority of the Egyptian 
archaeologists with me, that the Aurim and Thummim of the 
Hebrew breast-plate were borrowed from the breast-plates of the 
Egyptian judges. Moses, we know, was versed in all the learn- 
ing of the Egyptians, and these very breast-plates had already 
been consecrated in the eyes of the Jews by their seeing them 
worn as tokens of official dignity by the ministers of justice, 
who were also High Priests in that Egypt which had formerly 
been the land of their task-masters. 

URN. The urn has been adopted as a memorial of death ; 
because formerly it was the custom, instead of burying corpses, 
to burn them upon a funeral pyre, and deposit the ashes in an 



* Moses nn<l Aaron, B. iv. oh. S. 



VEI 511 

urn. This custom was sometimes adopted by the Jews, as in the 
case of Saul, whose body was burnt by the men of Jabesh, 
though their usual method was that of inhumation. 



VEILS. The veils of the tabernacle were of four colours, 
blue, purple, scarlet, and white or fine linen.' These colours 
have been adopted as the symbolic colours of masonry. White 
is the emblem of innocence, and is found in the gloves and 
apron; blue is the emblem of universal friendship, and is appro- 
priated to the symbolic degrees ; scarlet is the emblem of zeal 
and fervency, and is appropriated to the Royal Arch ; purple, 
which is the union of blue and scarlet, is thence the emblem of 
unity and concord, and has been adopted as the colour of the in- 
termediate degrees between the symbolic and the Royal Arch. 
The Jews, according to Josephus, gave to these veils an astro- 
nomical signification, and supposed them to represent the four 
elements. Fine white linen was a symbol of the earth, because 
it was made out of flax, a production of the earth : the blue, as 
the colour of the sky, was a symbol of the air ; the purple, of 
the sea, because it derived its colour from the murex, a shell-nVh 
that inhabits the sea; and the scarlet was the natural symbol of 
fire.* 

VEILS, MASTERS OF THE. Three officers of a Royal 
Arch Chapter, who, being armed with a sword, and bearing a 
banner of the appropriate colour, are stationed at the blue, pur- 
ple, and scarlet veils. The white veil is guarded by the Royal 
Arch Captain. 

* Josephus, Antiq. Judaic, lib. iii. c. 7. 



512 VER— VIS 

VERGER. An officer in a Council of Knights of the Holy 
Sepulchre, corresponding to the Senior Deacon in a symbolic 
lodge. 

VISITATION. The official visit of the Grand Master and 
his officers to a subordinate lodge, for the purpose of inspecting 
its books and mode of work, is called a visitation. On this oc- 
casion, the lodge should be opened in the Master's degree; the 
Grand Officers should be received with all the honours of ma- 
sonry, and the seats of the officers of the lodge should be sur- 
rendered to the corresponding Grand Officers. This last is done 
as an acknowledgment of the authority from which the lodge de- 
rives its Warrant of Constitution. 

The Grand Master and the Deputy Grand Master are entitled, 
in all their visits to subordinate lodges, to certain 'privileges, 
which are thus laid down in the English Constitutions : 

" The Grand Master has full authority to preside in any 
lodge, and to order any of his Grand Officers to attend him ; 
his Deputy is to be placed on his right hand, and the Master of 
the lodge on his left hand. His Wardens are also to act as 
Wardens of that particular lodge during his presence." P. 30. 

" The Deputy Grand Master has full authority, unless the 
Grand Master, or Pro-Grand Master, be present, to preside in 
every lodge which he may visit, with the Master of the lodge on 
his right hand. The Grand Wardens, if present, are to act a? 
Wardens." P. 33. 

But this power of presiding, in an informal visit, does not 
seem to have been extended to the Grand Wardens ; though, of 
course, if the visit be official, and the Grand and Deputy Grand 
Masters be absent, the Senior Grand Warden will preside as De- 
puty Grand Master, and the Master of the lodge will, in that 
case, sit on the right. 

VISIT, RIGHT OF. Every mason who is a working bro- 
ther, that is to say, who is a subscribing member of a lodge, nas 



VIS 513 

a right to visit any other lodge as often "6 it may suit his conve- 
nience or his pleasure.* 

This right is guaranteed to every mason by the most ancient 
regulations. In the " Ancient Charges at the Constitution of a 
Lodge/' contained in a MS. of the Lodge of Antiquity in Lon- 
don, it is directed, " That every mason receive and cherish 
strange fellowes when they come over the countrie, and sett them 
on worke, if they will worke, as the manner is ; that is to say, if 
the mason have any mould stone in his place, he shall give him 
a mould stone, and sett him on worke ; and if he have none, the 
mason shall refresh him with money unto the next lodge." 

This regulation is explicit. It not only infers the right of 
visit, but it declares that the strange brother shall be welcomed. 
It lefers, however, only to the case of "strange fellowes," whom 
we now denominate transient brethren. But in the case of bre- 
thren who reside in the place where the lodge is situated, to 
which they demand admittance, other and subsequent regulations 
have been created. In this case it seems to be necessary that 
the visiting brother shall be a member of some other lodge. 
This doctrine is expressed in the following sections of the Consti- 
tution of the Grand Lodge of England : " A brother, who is 
not a subscribing member to some lodge, shall not be permitted 
to visit any one lodge in the town or place where he resides, 
more than once during his secession from the craft." P. 89. 

A non-subscribing brother is permitted to visit each lodge 
once, because it is supposed that this visit is made for the pur- 
pose of enabling him to make a selection of the one in which he 
may prefer working. But afterwards he is excluded, in order to 
discountenance those brethren who wish to continue members of 
the order, and to partake of its benefits, without contributing to 
its support. 

* I shall not enter upon the question that has been mooted by Brother 
Moore, [Freemason's Mag. vol. iii. 225,] whether this is an inherent right. It 
will be sufficient, as seen above, that the right is secured by the oldest regula- 
tions. 



514 VOT 

Another regulation on this subject is, that no visitor can be 
admitted into a lodge, unless he is personally vouched for by a 
brother present, or has submitted to a due examination. 

A fourth regulation, and one that has lately given occasion v> 
considerable discussion, is, that a strange brother shall furnish 
the lodge he desires to visit with a certificate of his good stand- 
ing in the order. The regulation requiring certificates has been 
said by some to be an innovation. That it is not so, but, on the 
contrary, was in force at an early period, will appear from the 
following extract, from the " Regulations made in General As- 
sembly, Dec. 27, 1663," under the Grand Mastership of the 
Earl of St. Albans : " 3. That no person hereafter who shall be 
accepted a Freemason, shall be admitted into any lodge or assem- 
bly, until he has brought a certificate of the time and place of 
his acceptation, from the lodge that accepted him, unto the 
Master of that limit or division where such a lodge is kept." 
This regulation has since been reiterated on several occasions; by 
the Grand Lodge of England in 1772, and at subsequent periods 
by several of the Grand Lodges of this and other countries. 

The right of visit is, therefore, regulated by the following 
principles : Transient brethren may visit lodges, provided they 
prove themselves qualified by a voucher or by examination, and 
by the possession of a certificate ; and resident brethren after the 
first visit, only while they are contributing members to the order. 

VOTING. Voting in lodges viva voce is an innovation. 
The ancient method was by holding up one of the hancte. In 
the regulations of the Grand Lodge of England, revised in 1767, 
it is said, " The opinions or votes of the members are always to 
be signified by each holding up one of his hands ; which uplifted 
hands the Grand Wardens are to count, unless the number of 
hands be so unequal as to render the counting useless. Nor 
should any other kind of division be ever admitted on such 



VOU— WAG 515 

VOUCHING-. To vouch is to bear witness; vouching for a 
orother is, therefore, bearing witness that he is a true and trusty 
mason. And no one can, of course, give this testimony of a 
stranger's character, unless he has personally satisfied himself of 
his qualifications. 

A candidate's letter must be signed by two brethren, one of 
whom vouches for his possessing the necessary qualifications, 
moral, mental, and physical, and is, hence, called the voucher ; 
and the other, upon this vouching, recommends him to the 
lodge ; and no candidate, unless thus properly vouched for, can 
be suffered to enter upon the ceremonies of initiation. 



W. 



WAGES. There are various masonic traditions respecting 
the wages paid to the workmen at the building of the temple. 
The whole is stated to have been equal to six hundred and 
seventy-two millions of dollars, but the authorities differ as to 
the proportion in which it was distributed. Of course, the 
higher the degree, the higher must have been the amount of 
wages. A Master must have received more than a Fellow-Craft. 

There was an old tradition among the English masons, that 
the men were paid in their lodges by shekels — a silver coin of 
about the value of fifty cents — and that the amount was regu- 
lated by the square of the number of the degree that the work- 
man had attained. Thus, the Entered Apprentice received one 
shekel per day ; the Fellow-Craft, who had advanced to the 
second degree, received the square of 2, or 2x2=4 shekels; 
and the Markman, or third degree, received the square of 3, or 
3X^=9 skekels; whilst the ninth degree, or Super-Excellent 
Mason, received the square of 9, or 9x9=81 shekels. 



516 WAR 

According to this tradition, the pay-roll would be as follows • 



An Entered Apprentice received 1 shekel or . 


. $00 50 cts 


A Fellow-Craft, 


4 


u 


2 50 


A Mark Man, 


9 


it 


4 50 


A Mark Master, 


» 16 


u 


8 00 


A Master Mason, 


" 25 


it 


L2 50 


An Architect, 


" 36 


tc 


18 00 


A Grand Architect, 


" 49 


it 


24 50 


An Excellent Mason, 


" 64 


a 


32 00 


A Super-Excellent Mason, 81 


a 


40 50 



But this calculation seems to have been only a fanciful specu^ 
lation of some of our ancient brethren. 

The traditions preserved among us relate only to the pay of 
the Fellow-Crafts, and carry with them a much greater air of 
probability. 

According to these, such of the Fellow-Crafts as worked in the 
quarries, and had been made the possessors of a mark, received 
their wages in specie, at the rate of a half shekel a day, and 
were paid on the sixth day of the week, at the office of the Senior 
Grand Warden of their lodge. But all the other Fellow-Crafts 
received theirs in the middle chamber, and were paid in corn, 
wine, and oil, according to the stipulation of King Solomon with 
Hiram, King of Tyre : " And, behold, I will give to thy servants, 
the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten 
wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, twenty thou- 
sand measures of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil." 
2 Chron. ii. 10, 



WARDENS. Two officers in a symbolic lodge, whose duty it 
is to assist the Worshipful Master in the government of the craft. 
The first of these officers is called the Senior, and the second the 
Junior, Warden. 

Senior Warden. The duties of a Senior Warden are highly 



WAR 517 

important He is, under the Master, to superintend the craft 
during labour, and, in his absence, to preside over the lodge. 
With the Worshipful Master and the Junior Warden, he repre- 
sents the lodge in the Grand Lodge. The Senior Warden has 
the privilege of appointing the Junior Deacon; and to him, 
when the Master is otherwise engaged, are all reports to be made 
by that officer. His jewel is a level — an emblem of the equality 
and harmony which should exist among Masons in the lodge 
while at work. Before the Senior Warden is placed, and he 
carries in all processions, a column, which is a representation of 
the right-hand pillar that stood at the porch of King Solomon's 
Temple. 

In case of the death, removal from the State, or expulsion of 
the Master, the Senior Warden presides over the lodge for the 
remainder of his term of office. During the temporary absence 
the Master, the Senior Warden will, sometimes, through courtesy, 
resign the chair to a former Past Master ; yet, in this case, the 
latter officer derives his authority from the Warden, and cannot 
act until this officer has congregated the lodge. The same thing 
is applicable to the Junior Warden, in case of the absence both 
of the Master and the Senior Warden. This rule arises from the 
fact that the Warrant of Constitution is granted to the Master, 
Wardens, and their successors in office, and not to the members 
of the lodge. A lodge, therefore, cannot be legally congregated 
without the presence of at least one of these officers, or a Past 
Master. 

Junior Warden. The Junior Warden presides over the craft 
during refreshment, and in the absence of the Worshipful Mas- 
ter and Senior Warden, he performs the duties of presiding 
officer. The jewel of the Junior Warden is a plumb, emble- 
matic of the rectitude of conduct which should distinguish the 
brethren, when, during the hours of refreshment, they are be- 
yond the precincts of the lodge. His seat is in the S.- , and he 
represents the Pillar of Beauty. He has placed before him, and 
carries in procession, a column, which is the representative of 

44 



518 WAR 

the left-hand pillar which stood at the porch of Solomon's 
Temple.* 

One other regulation in relation to these officers, requires to 
be mentioned. When the lodge, by death or otherwise, is de- 
prived of the services of any of the other officers, an election may 
be immediately held, under the dispensation of the Grand Master, 
to supply the vacancy. But no election can be had to supply the 
place ad interim, of either the Master or Wardens, while one of 
the three remains. If two of them, as, for example, the Master 
and Senior Warden, have died or been deposed, the Junior War- 
den must occupy the chair during the remainder of the term, and 
appoints his Wardens pro tempore at each communication, until 
the regular constitutional night of election. It is only in the case 
where the whole three have died, or otherwise left the lodge, that 
a dispensation can be granted for an election to supply their place. 
Because, by the regulation granting to them only the Warrant 
of Constitution, without, at least, one of them to preside, and to 
assume the authority delegated by the Warrant of Constitution, 
the lodge is virtually extinct. 

The situation of the three superior officers in the lodge differs 
somewhat in the different rites. In the French rite, they are 
placed in the east, in a triangular form; in the Scotch rite, the 
Wardens are in the west; in the York rite their respective situ- 
ations are well known. 

The Senior and Junior Wardens are also officers in a Comman- 
dery of Knights Templars, whose duties are, in some respects, 
similar to those of the Senior Deacon in a symbolic lodge. 

WARDENS, GRAND. The Grand Wardens, who are the 

* The two columns which, in the York rite, are small, and placed upon the 
pedestals of the two Wardens, are much better represented in Che French rite. 
There, two large pillars of bronze, ornamented with net-work, lily-work, and 
pomegranates, are placed on each side of the entrance of the lodge, ir the 
west, and at their bases are placed two triangular tables, at which the Wardens 
are seated. 



WAK 519 

assistants of the Grand Master in the government of the Giand 
Lodge, must be Past Masters of skill and good report. In the 
absence of the Grand and Deputy Grand Master, the Senior 
Grand Warden takes the chair, and in his absence, the Junior. 
And, in case of the death of the Grand Master, the same order 
of precedence is to be observed, until a new Grand Master is 
elected. 

In visitations, when the Grand Master and his Deputy are 
absent, the Senior or Junior Grand Warden may preside, but in 
this case he acts only as a Deputy, aud must be received with the 
honours due to his rank, the Master of the lodge sitting on his 
right hand. 

When a Grand Warden attends in the procession of a private 
lodge, he takes place immediately after the Master of the lodge, 
and two Deacons, with black rods, are to attend him, but the 
Book of Constitutions is not borne before him : this can only be 
carried in a procession where the Grand Master or his Deputy is 
present. 

WARDER. An officer in a Commandery of Knights Tem- 
plars, whose duties are similar in general to those of the Junior 
Deacon of a symbolic lodge. 

WARRANT OF CONSTITUTION. No assemblage of Ma- 
sons can be legally congregated for work, as a lodge, except under 
the authority of a Warrant of Constitution, granted by some Grand 
Lodge. This regulation has been in existence ever since the pre- 
sent organization of Grand Lodges, though formerly, a sufficient 
number of brethren meeting together within a certain district, 
with the consent of the civil authorities of the place, were empo- 
wered to make Masons, and to practice the rites of Freemasonry; 
and this privilege was inherent in them as individuals : it was, 
however, on the organization of the order in its present form, re- 
signed into the hands of the Grand Lodges. 

The Warran* of Constitution is granted to the Master and 



520 WEL— WES 

Wardens, and to their successors in office ; it continues in force 
only during the pleasure of the Grand Lodge, and may, therefore, 
at any time be revoked, and the lodge dissolved by a vote of that 
body. This will, however, never be done, unless the lodge has 
violated the ancient landmarks, or failed to pay due respect and 
obedience to the Grand Lodge. 

When a Warrant of Constitution is revoked, or recalled, the 
jewels, furniture, and funds of the lodge revert to the Grand 
Lodge. 

Lastly, as a lodge holds its communications only under the 
authority of this Warrant of Constitution, no lodge can be opened, 
or proceed to business, unless it be present. If it be mislaid or 
destroyed, it must be recovered, or another obtained ; and until 
that is done, the communications of the lodge must be suspended; 
and if the Warrant of Constitution be taken out of the room, dur- 
ing the session of the lodge, the authority of the Master instantly 
ceases. 

It is called a " Warrant of Constitution," because it is the in- 
trument which authorizes or warrants the persons therein named 
to open and constitute a lodge. 

WELCOME. It is the duty of every lodge to welcome and 
clothe every worthy and well-qualified brother who visits it. 
That is, to receive him with the honours due to his rank, and to 
furnish him, if necessary, with the proper investiture. And a 
particular officer, the Senior Deacon, is directed to see that this 
duty is performed. 

WEST. In the early ages of the world, the wisdom of men 
was concentrated in the easternmost parts of the earth ; and the 
nations which had disseminated themselves along the shores of 
the Mediterranean, to the west of the plains of Shinar, were obliged 
to return towards the East in search of the knowledge of their 
forefathers. The West was then a place of darkness, and he who 
sought light was obliged to leave it and travel to the East. In 



WHI— WIS 521 

astronomy, there is the same peculiarity in relation to .he course 
of light. The earth revolves upon its axis from west to east 
But the sun rises in the latter point, and while the eastern hemi- 
sphere is enjoying the light of day, the western parts of the globe 
are enveloped in darkness j until, by the diurnal revolution of 
the earth, they are brought towards the East, and placed within 
the influence of the enlightening rays of the solar orb. Masons 
do not forget these facts in history and science ; and they know 
that he who, being in the darkness of the West, would seek true 
light, must travel to the East. 

"WHITE. One of the emblematic colours of masonry, which is 
preserved in the apron and gloves, with which the initiate is in- 
vested. It is a symbol of innocence and purity. The white in- 
vestiture, as may be seen throughout this work, was a part of the 
ceremonies of all the ancient mysteries. 

WIDOW'S SOX. One of the most illustrious personages 
in masonic history is so called, because he is described in 
Scripture as having been " the son of a widow of the tribe of 
Napthali." 

WINDING STAIRS. These constitute an important part of 
the esoteric instruction of masonry. We are told in 1 Kings vi. 
8, that "they went up with winding stairs into the middle cham- 
ber." Masonic tradition tells that there were fifteen steps, di- 
vided into unequal courses. The English Masons formerly said 
that there were twenty-seven, divided into one, three, five, se- 
ven, and eleven, but they have now abandoned the eleven of the 
last course, and leave but sixteen. The one they reier to the 
unity of God. 

WISDOM. One of the three principal supports of mason- 
ry. It is represented by the Ionic column, and the W.\ M.\ j 
because, the Ionic column wisely combines the strength without 

44* 



522 WOM 

the massiveness of the Doric ; with the grace, without the exu- 
berance of ornament of the Corinthian ; and because it is the 
duty of the W.\ M.\ to superintend, instruct, and enlighten the 
craft by his superior wisdom. Solomon, King of Israel, is also 
considered as the column of wisdom that supported the temple. 

WOMx\N. The objection so often made by the fair sex, that 
they are most ungallantly refused an entrance into our order, 
and a knowledge of our secrets, is best answered by a reference to 
the originally operative character of our institution. That 
woman is not admitted to a participation in our rites and cere- 
monies, is most true. But it is not because we deem her unworthy 
or unfaithful, or deny her the mind to understand, or the heart to 
appreciate our principles ; but simply because, in the very or- 
ganization of masonry, man alone can fulfil the duties it incul- 
cates, or perform the labours it enjoins. Free and speculative ma- 
sonry is but an application of the art of operative masonry to mo- 
ral and intellectual purposes. Our ancestors worked at the con- 
struction of the Temple of Jerusalem ; while we are engaged in 
the erection of a more immortal edifice — the temple of the mind. 
They employed their implements for merely mechanical purposes; 
we use them symbolically, with more exalted designs. 

Thus, in all our emblems, our language, and our rites, there 
is a beautiful exemplification and application of the rules of ope- 
rative masonry, as it was exercised at the building of the temple. 
And as King Solomon employed in the construction of that edi- 
fice, only hale and hearty men, and cunning workmen, so our 
lodges, in imitation of that great exemplar, demand as the in- 
dispensable requisite to admission, that the candidate shall be free- 
born, of lawful age, and in the possession of all his limbs and 
members, that he may be capable of performing such work as the 
Master shall assign to him. 

Hence, it must be apparent that the admission of women into 
our order would be attended with a singular anomaly. As they 
worked nut at the temple, neither can they work with us. But 



WOR— XER 523 

we love and cherish them not the less. One of the holiest of 
our mystic rites inculcates a reverence for the widow, and pity 
for the widow's son. The wife, the mother, the sister, and the 
daughter of the Mason, exercise a peculiar claim upon each Ma- 
son's heart and affections. And while we know that woman's 
smile, like the mild beams of an April sun, reflects a brighter 
splendour on the light of prosperity, and warms with grateful glow 
the chilliness of adversity, we regret, not the less deeply, because 
unavailingly, that no ray of that sun can illume the recesses 
of our lodge, and call our weary workmen from their labours to 
refreshment. 

WORK. See Labour. 

WORKING TOOLS. See Implements. 

WORSHIPFUL. The title given to a symbolic lodge, and 
to its presiding officer, the Master. Past Masters, after leaving 
the chair, still retain the title of Worshipful. In the French 
rite, the lodge is called "Respectable," and the Master "le Vene- 
rable." See Master of a Lodge, for the duties of this officer. 



X. 

XEROPHAGISTS. Pope Clement XII. having issued a Bull 
forbidding the practice of Freemasonry, the Masons of Italy, 
who continued to meet, for the purpose of avoiding the penalties 
of the Bull, called themselves Xerophagists. The word means 
literally dry live rs, persons who do not drink, and they adopted 
the title, because they introduced something like the principle 
of total abstinence from intoxicating drinks into the institution. 



524 YEA— YOR 



YEAR OF LIGHT. Anno Lucis. The date used by sym- 
bolic Masons, as being the era of the creation, when Light was 
called into existence by the fiat of the Almighty, and when the 
true principles which distinguish our order first received their 
birth. Masons do not now adopt this era, because they any 
longer believe that Freemasonry, as it now appears, is to be dattd 
from the creation; but simply, because the great moral and reli- 
gious system, which masonry has preserved amid ages of dark- 
ness, is coeval with the hour when the Supreme Will called light 
and life into existence. 

YORK. A city in the north of England, memorable for 
being the place where Freemasonry was officially re-established 
in that kingdom, and the first Grand Lodge formed in 926, by 
Prince Edwin, the brother of King Athelstane, from whom he 
purchased a free charter for that purpose.* 

YORK RITE. The Ancient York rite is that oldest of all 
the rites of Masonry which is practised by the Grand Lodge of 
England, and derives its name from the city of York where the 
first General Assembly or Grand Lodge was held, in the year 
920, and where the rite is said to have been established. 

It consists, as defined by the Union Grand Lodge of England in 
1813, of the three degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, 
and M;ster Mason, including the Holy Royal x\rch. The rite 
practised in the United States is very improperly called the York 
rite, from which it differs by the superposition of several degrees. 
See An erlcan Bite. 

The York rite is the mother of all the other rites, which are 
but developments of its simple system. 

* See this work, p. 168. 



ZED— ZIN 525 



Z 



ZEDEKIAH. The last King of Judah, before the captivity 
of Babylon, in whose reign the Temple was destroyed by Nebu- 
chadnezzar. The eyes of Zedekiah were put out, and being 
loaded with chains of brass, he was carried a captive to Babylon, 
where he afterwards died. 

ZENITH. That point of the heavens situated immediately 
over the head of the spectator, and which the sun reaches at 
meridian. The Supreme Councils of the 33d degree of the An- 
cient Scotch rite, do not date their documents as other Masons 
do, from the Orient, but from the Zenith. 

ZEREDATHA. A town of Judea, 35 miles north of Jeru- 
salem, in the clay ground near which, Hiram Abif cast the 
sacred vessels of the Temple. See Clay Grounds. 

ZERUBBABEL. The grandson, though called by Ezra, the 
son, of Salathiel, who was the son of Jeconiah, King of Judah 
He was, therefore, of the royal race of David. He was born at 
Babylon, as the Hebrew signification of his name imports, and 
returned to Jerusalem in the beginning of the reign of Cyrus, 
with the sacred vessels of the Temple, which Cyrus had com- 
mitted to his care, as the chief of the Jews who were in captivity 
at Babylon. He laid the foundations of the second Temple, and 
restored the worship of the Lord and the usual sacrifices. He 
is represented by the second officer in the Royal Arch degree. 
The incidents of Zerubbabel's life are also referred to in several 
other degrees, such as Knight of the Red Cross, Knight of the 
East, and Prince of Jerusalem. 

ZINNENDORF, RITE OF. Count Zinnendorf, chief physi- 
cian of the Emperor Charles VI., invented a new rite, which was 



52(3 ZIN 



* 



i, 



a modification of the Illuminism of Avignon, adding to the mys- 
teries of Swedenborg, of which this latter rite was principally 
composed, several things taken from the Scotch, German, and 
Swedish degrees, as well as from Templar Masonry. His system 
consisted of seven degrees, divided into three sections, as fol- 
lows : — 

I. Blue, or St. John's Masonry. — 1, Entered Apprentice ; 2, 
Fellow-Craft; 3, Master Mason. 

II. Red Masonry. — 4, Scotch Apprentice and Fellow-Craft; 
5, Scotch Master. 

III. Capitular Masonry. — 6, Favourite of St. John ; 7, Elected 
Brother. 

Zinnendorf died in the year 1800, having attempted, without 
success, to introduce his system into England. 



THE END. 



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